SENATE, No. 683

SECTION 1.  Section 16K of chapter 6A of the general laws is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:

The council, subject to appropriation, shall implement a program for measuring performance excellence in health care institutions utilizing the Baldridge National Quality Program Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence.  The evaluation of health care organizations shall include: (1) an organizational profile describing organizational characteristics and challenges; (2) leadership describing how senior leaders establish and communicate vision and values, how the institution governs and addresses its social responsibilities; (3) strategic planning examining how strategies are developed and deployed; (4) focus on patients, other customers, and markets examining how knowledge of patients, other customers and markets are used, how the organization builds relationships and grows patient or customer satisfaction and loyalty; (5) measurement, analysis and knowledge management examining how the institution measures, analyzes and reviews performance and how organizational information and knowledge is managed; (6) human resources examining how staff are enabled to accomplish the work of the organization and how the organization contributes to staff well-being and satisfaction; (7) process management examining how the organization identifies and manages health care processes including support processes to accomplish operational planning; and (8) results examining the health care and service delivery outcomes, patient and other customer outcomes, financial and market outcomes, human resource outcome, and organizational effectiveness outcomes.  For the purpose of implementing said program, the council may establish, by regulation, a schedule of fees to be paid by institutions being measured that cover all, or a portion, of the cost of implementation, including publication of the results in a format established by the Council.