Chapter 8

4. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence serve two main purposes: (1) to identify Baldrige Award recipients that will serve as role models for other organizations and (2) to help organizations assess their improvement efforts, diagnose their overall performance management system, and identify their strengths and opportunities for improvement. In addition, the Criteria help strengthen U.S. competitiveness by

Improving organizational performance practices, capabilities, and results

Facilitating communication and sharing of information on best practices among U.S. organizations of all types

Serving as a tool for understanding and managing performance and for guiding planning and opportunities for learning

North Mississippi Health Services- uses technology to create healthier people in the communities served by NMHS has led to outstanding results. For instance outpatient management of diabetes has met or exceeded the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) top-percentile benchmark since 2008. Cancer awareness campaigns have improved the state’s Medicare program, additionally; data from NMHS’s Community Health Assessment has demonstrated that the number of smokers in the region has declined 7 percent since 2004 to 15.6 percent.

Efforts like this are the reason the North Mississippi Health Services have earned the award.

6. Software is always improving, the speed of software doubles every 18 months and the cost of it gets cut in half. This is according to Moore’s law. This means that software development can always be improved and the outcomes are endless. For example, if you need to improve software on a business PC, at first the investment might be big, but once it is installed it can easily be upgraded. With the right investments and the right research, you can easily upgrade your workstations.