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Learn from the Latest Baldrige Case Study

What can you learn for your organization from the evaluation of a fictional health care organization conducted by an actual team of Baldrige examiners this year? See a sample applicant's responses to the 2011-2012 Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence (PDF) [no longer available, see instead: 2015–2016 Baldrige Excellence Framework (Health Care)] and how examiners review and score an organization's performance with the now available 2012 Tillingate Living Case Study (PDF) and other resources. These documents are now posted on the Baldrige Web site for any organization to download and use.

The Tillingate Living Case Study (PDF) describes a for-profit, privately held company with 23 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities spread across four states: Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Since 2008, Tillingate Living has made changes to establish a long-term care model that advances seniors' independence and quality of life. The Tillingate Living Case Study is based on the 2011-2012 Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence (PDF) [no longer available, see instead: 2015–2016 Baldrige Excellence Framework (Health Care).

Additional 2012 case study resources, which illustrate the Baldrige Award evaluation process, include the following:

  • Tillingate Living Scorebook (MS-Word), which is produced by a team of Baldrige examiners who evaluate the fictitious application against the Criteria
  • Tillingate Living Feedback Report (PDF), which shows the scorebook comments in the format of the reports received by actual Baldrige Award applicants at the end of the annual evaluation process


Each year, the Baldrige Program produces a new case study that describes how a fictitious organization is fulfilling the requirements of the Criteria for Performance Excellence. The case studies rotate sectors from year to year in order to show examples for a variety of organizations using the three versions of the Criteria: Business/Nonprofit, Health Care, and Education.

Baldrige case studies have at least three purposes. First, given that actual Baldrige Award applications remain confidential until award-winning organizations approve selected content for public sharing, the case studies are used to train examiners for the Baldrige Program's annual award process. Second, case studies serve as sample applications for organizations interested in applying for a Baldrige Award. In addition, the case studies show organizations in every sector how they might use the Criteria questions to assess and improve their performance, even if they are not interested in applying for a Baldrige Award.

Additional Baldrige case studies are available in an online archive of publications.
 

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Released July 11, 2012, Updated January 12, 2023