Southcentral Foundation (SCF) serves as a compelling example of how adopting the Baldrige Performance Excellence Model can significantly enhance healthcare quality, efficiency, and financial performance. In 2010, SCF received the highest recognition from the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) for successfully building a robust primary care system that proactively engages its patients—referred to as “customer-owners”—through an extensive range of preventive services and targeted treatment programs.
Through strategic application of the Baldrige framework leading up to its 2011 Baldrige Award, SCF realized substantial care-quality improvements coupled with remarkable cost reductions. Key outcomes included improved same-day access to primary care, resulting in a 50% reduction in expensive emergency room and urgent care visits. Moreover, the organization significantly optimized care efficiency by decreasing specialty care utilization by approximately 65%, reducing primary care visits by 20%, and cutting hospital admissions by an impressive 53%.
Alongside these clinical advancements, SCF demonstrated robust financial growth, consistently increasing its total revenue from $120.2 million in 2003 to $201.3 million by 2010, surpassing the Medical Group Management Association’s (MGMA) 90th percentile benchmarks. Revenue from third-party payers also substantially increased during this period, growing from $7.4 million to $17.9 million—once again exceeding the MGMA’s 90th percentile in 2010.
SCF’s targeted focus on critical health conditions further highlighted the model’s effectiveness. Notably, SCF successfully reduced both the incidence and improved management outcomes for diabetes, a condition disproportionately impacting Alaska Native and American Indian populations at twice the national rate. Between 2009 and 2011, SCF’s diabetes care performance consistently exceeded the 90th percentile among health plans nationwide.
Southcentral Foundation’s experience underscores how the Baldrige Performance Excellence Model drives transformative results, creating lasting value through patient-centered care, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability.