2009

Award Recipient

National Institute of Standards and Technology • U.S. Department of Commerce

Baldrige National Quality Program

 Highlights

• ARMC achieved Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 

national top-10 percent performance in 2008 for patient care 

measures related to congestive heart failure, acute myocardial 

infarction, and pneumonia.

• AtlantiCare was recognized in 2008 by the American Nurses’ 

Credentialing Center as a Magnet nursing organization, 

receiving the nursing profession’s highest honor for the 

second time.

• For the past four years, AtlantiCare Home Health has been 

awarded HomeCare EliteTM status by OCS (formerly Outcome 

Concept Services), based on quality outcomes, quality 

improvement, and fi nancial performance. This designation 

places AtlantiCare Home Health in the top 100 nationally out 

of 8,222 Medicare-certifi ed home health care agencies. 

• From 2000 to 2008, system revenues grew from $280 million 

to $651 million, refl ecting an 11 percent compound annual 

growth rate, compared to a State of New Jersey average of 

5.6 percent. During this time period, AtlantiCare’s medical 

center volume increased from about 34,000 to over 56,000 

discharges—also more than twice the state average.

AtlantiCare

AtlantiCare, a nonprofi t health system in southeastern 

New Jersey, delivers acute and chronic care, preventive and 

at-risk services, and health information services. The system 

employs about 5,100 people, making AtlantiCare the largest 

health care provider in the region. AtlantiCare has achieved 

market advantage with a diverse array of services delivered 

through a comprehensive distribution network and continues 

to grow in both system revenues and patient volume. From 

2000 to 2008, system revenues grew from $280 million to $651 

million, refl ecting an 11 percent compound annual growth rate, 

compared to a state average of 5.6 percent. During this time 

period, AtlantiCare’s medical center volume increased from 

about 34,000 to over 56,000 discharges—also more than twice 

the state average.

Delivering Optimal Value 

for Optimal Health

AtlantiCare applies the concept of an “epidemic of health” 

to its community health care efforts, understanding that 

the organization’s mission to “deliver health and healing 

to all people through trusting relationships” and its vision 

of “building healthy communities” can only be realized by 

involving everyone—staff, patients, and members of the 

community—in health improvement. The effort focuses on 

three services designed to promote health and well-being at 

every stage of an individual’s life. AtlantiCare’s core competency 

is the integration of these services: (1) health care delivery, (2) 

health engagement, and (3) health information. 

Health Care Delivery: AtlantiCare’s primary service 

offering focuses on the physical health care of the community. 

AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center (ARMC), a 589-bed 

teaching hospital, provides a full range of inpatient and 

outpatient services, and centers of excellence, including the 

Heart Institute, Level II Trauma Center, Center for Childbirth, 

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Joint Institute, Cancer Care 

Institute, and Neuroscience Services. 

AtlantiCare Behavioral Health offers mental and behavioral 

health services, such as adult and child counseling services; 

substance abuse treatment; addiction recovery services; and 

education, preventive, support, information, and referral 

services. It operates outpatient programs and the inpatient 

psychiatric unit. 

AtlantiCare Health Services provides a wide variety of 

health care and wellness services outside the hospital, such 

as the AtlantiCare Surgery Center, clinical labs, urgent care 

centers, the hospice program, home care, family medicine, 

occupational medicine, retail health, child care and early 

learning centers, and nonhospital charity care for the homeless. 

Health Engagement: AtlantiCare’s health engagement 

focuses on the prevention of injury and illness, the 

management of health risks and chronic illnesses, and health 

care utilization in the community. The LifeCenter is a 

medically supervised health and fi tness center for employee 

and community use. The Center for Community Health 

partners with schools, businesses, and other stakeholders to 

improve the overall well-being of the community. For example, 

a program was established to promote nutrition, fi tness, and 

well-being in children.
The Special Care Center in Atlantic City is designed to 

lower costs and improve quality for patients with complex 

chronic conditions. This innovative method of primary-care 

delivery provides services in three “fl oors” of care. The “First 

Floor Team” performs relationship-based care management 

focused on intensive upstream cost and risk reduction. The 

“Second Floor Team” consists of doctors and nurses who 

deliver primary care on an as-needed basis. The “Third 

Floor Team” is the referral stream to specialists and acutecare settings. These specialty services are provided on-site 

when possible and selected on a quality and cost effi ciency 

performance basis. 

Health Information: AtlantiCare captures and shares 

health information electronically to improve patient safety and 

quality of care. Through its technology company, InfoShare, 

AtlantiCare uses the electronic medical record and the 

Connected Community Health Information Exchange to 

record patient clinical data and to share health information 

electronically among all participating health care and health 

management stakeholders. 

The Quest to Be the Best

AtlantiCare has a decentralized leadership approach for 

achieving organization-wide goals (referred to as our “TightLoose-Tight” system). Senior leaders set clear objectives 

and targets through a planning process and a performance 

excellence framework known as the “5Bs”: Best Growth, 

Best People and Workplace, Best Customer Service, Best 

Quality, and Best Financial Performance. They also co-chair 

system-level, multidisciplinary teams organized around the 

fi ve performance excellence commitments. These system-level 

“B teams” research best practices, identify resource needs, and 

provide internal support to business unit “B teams” who are 

responsible for implementing these approaches throughout 

their units. 

Recently, AtlantiCare implemented the use of a “personal 

strategy map” for deploying 5B action plans to the individual 

level. Folding into the size of a credit card, the map may 

be stored in an employee’s ID badge carrier. On the map, 

the employee records how he/she plans to contribute to the 

accomplishment of the 5B goals. Additionally, AtlantiCare 

leaders have implemented the Share the Success program 

throughout the organization; the program aligns bonuses with 

achievement of performance-excellence goals and supports 

employee engagement. 

During strategic planning, AtlantiCare uses a voice of 

the customer (VOC) inquiry process to understand patient 

and stakeholder requirements and identify opportunities 

to develop innovative health care service features. Key 

stakeholders, including community and voluntary advisory 

groups, physicians, and partners, are involved in planning 

new initiatives. In one example of community advisory group 

participation, the new Patient Tower on the Atlantic City 

campus relied on VOC input to develop a customer and 

community-focused project. 

Success That Leads the Pack

By integrating key services and providing value to the 

community through its performance excellence focus, 

AtlantiCare is achieving its mission and vision, maximizing both 

employee and patient engagement/satisfaction, and maintaining 

a sustainable competitive advantage. Recent accomplishments 

and milestones include the following:

 • ARMC achieved Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 

Services national top-10 percent performance in 2008 for 

patient care measures related to congestive heart failure, acute 

myocardial infarction, and pneumonia. 

 • AtlantiCare’s current employee-loyalty index score from 

an Allegiance Technologies survey indicate that it is the health 

care leader in this measure while results from the 2009 HR 

Solutions survey of key drivers of workforce engagement are 

equal to or approaching 90th percentile national performance 

levels. The annual turnover rate for nurses declined from 

7.75 percent in 2006 to 6.02 percent in 2008, signifi cantly 

outperforming the New Jersey Hospital Association average 

of 12.43 percent. 

 • AtlantiCare was recognized in 2008 by the American 

Nurses’ Credentialing Center as a Magnet nursing 

organization, receiving the nursing profession’s highest honor 

for the second time.

 • From 2007 to 2009, survey responses for multiple 

service lines, including those for the Surgery Center, the 

Spine Institute, urgent care, and clinical labs, show customer 

satisfaction above the Professional Research Consultants (PRC) 

90th percentile national benchmarks. In customer preference, 

AtlantiCare was the 2008 market leader over competitors for 

the overall system. 

 • AtlantiCare’s new Cancer Care Institute qualifi ed for 

a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold 

Certifi cation in 2009, a fi rst for health care facilities in the region.

 • For the past four years, AtlantiCare Home Health has 

been awarded HomeCare EliteTM status by OCS (formerly 

Outcome Concept Services), based on quality outcomes, quality 

improvement, and fi nancial performance. This designation 

places AtlantiCare Home Health in the top 100 nationally out 

of 8,222 Medicare-certifi ed home-health-care agencies.

 • Community outreach is a key component of AtlantiCare’s 

vision to build healthy communities; attendance at community 

outreach events increased from 6,000 in 2005 to 18,486 in 2008.

 • As one of two Safety Net Hospitals, ARMC provided 90 

percent of the free medical care to people in need in Atlantic 

County, New Jersey, in 2008.

 • Results for nonhospital charity care provided through 

three Mission Healthcare facilities show increasing utilization 

from 2004 to 2008, with growth in patient visits from 8,277 

to 26,032. 

 For more information:

 Joan Brennan, DNP

 Vice President, Quality and Performance Excellence

 AtlantiCare

 2500 English Creek Ave., Building 500

 Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234

 Telephone: (609) 272-6349 

 E-mail: joan.brennan@atlanticare.org

 Web site: www.atlanticare.org/about/baldrige.php