U.S. health care organizations, from multihospital systems to rural community health centers, are gearing up for the challenge of their times: the effect of health care reform on how they care for patients and how they run their operations. Future health care organizations will need to find a way to prioritize patient care and health care outcomes at the same time as controlling costs and managing processes—in fact, more demands with less money.

With increased government and public scrutiny on their operations, U.S. health care organizations face another challenge: How exactly will health care reform affect them? National debates and challenges are still ongoing, but these organizations need to be prepared now for the future, no matter in what shape health care reform comes (the only thing we can agree on is that it is coming). And many believe that the Baldrige Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence hold the key to how to get prepared—and how to offer the highest-quality care and control costs at the same time.

 …