WASHINGTON – AtlantiCare in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., and Heartland Health in St. Joseph, Mo., have won the 2009 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced the 2009 recipients of the Baldrige Award in December. The award is the nation’s highest presidential honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.

“The (Baldrige Award recipients) inspire other organizations to be more accessible, more efficient, more customer-focused and more financially sound,” Locke said.

The 2009 Baldrige Award recipients were evaluated by an independent board of examiners in seven areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, process management and results.

A nonprofit health system in southeastern New Jersey, AtlantiCare is the largest health provider in its region. From 2000 to 2008, the health system’s revenues grew from $280 million to $651 million, reflecting an 11 percent compound annual growth rate. During this time period, its medical center volume increased from about 34,000 to greater than 56,000 discharges – more than twice the state growth rates.

“Baldrige Award winners have the opportunity and the responsibility of sharing our performance excellence strategies with other organizations in the country,” said David Tilton, AtlantiCare's CEO. “We are looking forward to acting as mentors and role models to others who aspire to offer the highest quality of care and service to their patients and customers.”

According to Tilton, AtlantiCare increased its market share in the health system's primary service area to a six-year high of 62 percent in the second quarter of 2008 and improved its market share in the regional service area by 57 percent from 2000 to 2009. In 2008, AtlantiCare delivered 90 percent of the free care in Atlantic County, N.J.

The other Baldrige winner, Heartland Health, is a not-for-profit, community-based healthcare system serving a 22-county market in portions of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

Heartland has annual revenues of approximately $750 million. In fiscal year 2009, the health system exceeded the Moody’s and Fitch Bond current bond rating requirements for days cash on hand and achieved performance in both rating agencies’ top 10 percent for total margin and operating margin.

“Heartland is a unique healthcare system, comprised of four fully-integrated entities,” said Mark Laney, MD, Heartland’s president and CEO. “Heartland Regional Medical Center and Heartland Clinic provide our community with the best and safest care by managing acute and chronic disease, illness and injury in a clinical setting.”

Laney said Heartland is ranked in the top 15 percent of hospitals nationally for patient safety according to the HealthGrades “Best Hospital Scores.” He said the health system has developed an organizational culture that applies Six Sigma methods in a “process improvement model” to control costs, prevent rework and errors and minimize the costs of inspection, tests and audits.

Cost savings as a result of process improvement at Heartland have increased from approximately $8 million in fiscal year 2005 to more than $25 million by fiscal year 2009, officials said.

The Baldrige program is managed by the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology in conjunction with the private sector. Named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness and performance of U.S. businesses.