MetaStar s Experience With the Baldrige Criteria

1. MetaStar�s Experience With the Baldrige Criteria Greg Simmons President and CEO MetaStar, Inc. AHQA 2007 Annual Meeting, February 15, 2007

2. To be Covered Why We�ve Bothered The Wisconsin Forward Award MetaStar�s Involvement Major Lessons Learned Improvements Made Challenges Presented by the Application Process Questions/Comments

3. Why We�ve Bothered The criteria provide a framework for: Measuring performance Planning for the future Aligning resources and approaches Improving communication Achieving strategic goals Opportunity for a thorough self - assessment Feedback report as a guide for improvement (Very inexpensive consulting)

4. The Wisconsin Forward Award Established in 1997 Four levels of recognition Commitment Proficiency Mastery Excellence No limit on the number of recipients recognized per category

5. MetaStar�s Involvement Started attending conferences and training events in late 90�s Board seat in 2000 Staff to Examiner Training & Criteria Training 1st Application and Feedback Report in 2003 Worked with a consultant in 2006 with cross- section of staff 2nd Application in January of 2007

6. Major Lessons Learned While we were doing a reasonably good job��. We needed to improve deployment of our strategies and initiatives throughout the organization. We needed to improve results measurement and benchmarking against best practices. We needed to extend knowledge of Baldrige to all parts of the organization.

7. Major Improvements Made Deepened and expanded staff knowledge of the criteria and their usefulness Are connecting daily work of all staff to the Strategic Plan Improved documentation of processes Expanded our measurement system, IQC program, and benchmarking Standardized systems, processes and IT applications across all departments

8. Challenges of the Process Consistent themes carried through all categories Strategic objectives Measurement, IQC and benchmarking Standard Operating Procedures Deployment of systems, processes and IT applications Identifying sources of comparative data for benchmarking The uniqueness of the QIO environment e.g. describing our customer relationships CMS Medicaid Providers Consumers/Beneficiaries 50 - page limit

9. Questions/Comments

10. Greg Simmons, CEOgsimmons@metastar.comSteve Laking, COOslaking@metastar.comMetaStar, Inc.2909 Landmark PlaceMadison, WI 53713608/274-1940