Performance management models for public health: Public Health Accreditation Board/Baldrige connections, alignment, and distinctions.

CONTEXT

The nationally known Malcolm Baldrige Award for Excellence ("Baldrige program") recognizes outstanding performance management and is specifically cited by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) as a potential framework for PHAB's requisite performance management system. The authors developed a crosswalk that identifies alignments between the 2 programs and is a highlight of the Quest for Exceptional Performance tool that is intended to help health departments capitalize on the connections between the 2 programs.

OBJECTIVE

To provide deeper insight into the most robust connections between the 2 programs.

DESIGN

The authors developed a crosswalk by listing the PHAB measures, identifying corresponding Baldrige areas to address, and assigning a rating regarding the strength of the alignment. Subsequently, they generated a matrix with numerical scores reflecting the strength of the PHAB-Baldrige alignments that were then analyzed for frequency and strength of alignment by PHAB domain and by Baldrige category.

PARTICIPANTS

The tool developers and 3 public health leaders with experience in the Baldrige program contributed to both the design and the analyses.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The measures used reflected both the frequency and strength of alignments.

RESULTS

Of the 123 alignments identified in the crosswalk, 39 were rated as high, 40 as medium, and 44 as low. The strongest connections were in the areas of performance management, quality improvement, strategic planning, workforce development, assessment and analysis, and customer service.

CONCLUSIONS

While the areas with the most frequent and strongest connections provide the most useful basis for health departments pursuing Baldrige recognition or using Baldrige criteria as a framework for performance management, all alignments could be considered for both purposes.