Table 1 Malcolm Baldrige performance excellence criteria and specific items for healthcare⁴.

Criteria	Definition	Specific items for healthcare*
Leadership	Examines how senior executives guide the organisation and how the organisation deals with its responsibilities to the public and practises good citizenship	1.1 Organisational leadership	How do senior leaders guide your organisation, including how they review organisational performance?
		1.2 Public responsibility and citizenship	How does your organisation address its responsibilities to the public, practise good citizenship, and contribute to the health of its community?
Strategic planning	Examines how the organisation sets strategic directions and how it determines key action plans	2.1 Strategy development	How does your organisation establish its strategic objectives, including enhancing its performance relative to other organisations providing similar healthcare services and its overall performance as a healthcare provider?
		2.2 Strategy deployment	How does your organisation convert its strategic objectives into action plans? Summarise your organisation's action plans and related key performance measures/indicators. Project your organisation's future performance on these key performance measures/indicators
Customer and market focus	Examines how the organisation determines requirements and expectations of customers and markets; builds relationships with customers; and acquires, satisfies and retains customers	3.1 Patient/customer and healthcare market knowledge	How does your organisation determine requirements, expectations, and preferences of patients, other customers, and markets to ensure the continuing relevance of your healthcare services and to develop new healthcare service opportunities?
		3.2 Patient/customer relationships and satisfaction	How does your organisation build relationships to acquire, satisfy, and retain patients/customers and to develop new healthcare service opportunities? How does your organisation determine patient/customer satisfaction?
Measurement, analysis and knowledge management	Examines the management, effective use, analysis, and improvement of data and information to support key organisation processes and the organisation's performance management system	4.1 Measurement and analysis of organisational performance	How does your organisation provide effective performance management systems for measuring, analysing, aligning and improving performance as a healthcare provider at all levels and in all parts of your organisation?
		4.2 Information management	How does your organisation ensure the quality and availability of needed data and information for staff, suppliers/partners, and patients/customers?
Human resource focus	Examines how the organisation enables its workforce to develop its full potential and how the workforce is aligned with the organisation's objectives	5.1 Work systems	How do your organisation's work and jobs, compensation, career progression, and related workforce practices motivate and enable all staff and the organisation to achieve high performance?
		5.2 Staff education, training and development	How does your organisation's education and training support the achievement of your overall objectives, including building staff knowledge, skills, and capabilities and contributing to high performance?
		5.3 Staff wellbeing and satisfaction	How does your organisation maintain a work environment and staff support climate that contribute to the wellbeing, satisfaction and motivation of all staff?
Process management	Examines aspects of how key production/delivery and support processes are designed, managed and improved	6.1 Healthcare service processes	How does your organisation manage key processes for healthcare service design and delivery?
		6.2 Business processes	How does your organisation manage its key processes that lead to business growth and success?
		6.3 Support processes	How does your organisation manage its key processes that support your daily operations and your staff in delivering healthcare services?
Business results	Examines the organisation's performance and improvement in its key business areas: customer satisfaction; financial and marketplace performance; human resources, supplier and partner performance; operational performance; and governance and social responsibility. The category also examines how the organisation performs relative to competitors

*These were the specific items for healthcare at the time of the analysis. Please visit http://baldrige.nist.gov/ for current healthcare items.