Northeast Delta Dental receives national recognition for performance excellence 

This article was originally published here.

Northeast Delta Dental announced it has been awarded the esteemed national Baldrige Performance Excellence Award, recognizing the company's unwavering commitment to quality, service, and innovation. One of only five companies in the United States to receive this national award this year, and the first ever in New Hampshire, the organization impressed examiners with its outstanding 99% account retention, Guarantee of Service Excellence program, and March to Million initiative.

“The demanding standards for this award are standards that our team strives to meet daily,” commented Tom Raffio, President & CEO, Northeast Delta Dental. “From the high accuracy rate of our processed claims to the speedy answering of customer calls to our strong commitment to corporate philanthropy, this remarkable achievement is a testament to the collective efforts of our dedicated employees.”

Established by Congress in 1987 to promote improved quality of goods and services and long-term success of U.S. organizations by recognizing role models, the program considers how organizations perform across eight categories. These include: Leadership and Governance, Strategy, Operations, Operational Continuity, Workforce, Customer and Markets, Community Engagement, and Finance.

“The numbers speak for themselves – with almost a 60 percent market share, 86 percent of participating dentists, and a total of 12 Best Companies to Work For awards, Northeast Delta Dental is very deserving of this accolade,” explained Kay Kendall, CEO, BaldrigeCoach.

The rigorous award process involved a detailed application outlining key processes and results, followed by an evaluation by a team of examiners who conducted a site visit to verify information. Finally, a judges' panel review determined the award recipients based on the application and site visit findings. Notably, all applicants receive valuable feedback on their strengths and areas for improvement, regardless of winning the award. Key aspects of the Baldrige Award process include a focus on performance excellence, comprehensive evaluation of practices and performance, strict confidentiality of applicant information, and the opportunity for benchmarking against industry best practices.

Some of the highlights key to its success in the awards program included:

• “March to a Million” The company exceeded its goal of reaching one million covered lives a year ahead of its goal.
• Guarantee of Service Excellence™ (GOSE™): a money-back guarantee for customer service, quick claims, billing, ID cards and more.
• Veteran’s Dental Health Program for veterans who don’t meet the Veteran Administration's dental care requirements.

Rob Kleiner, Director, External Operations, Northeast Delta Dental who served as the company’s Award Program Team Leader said, “This is an incredible company, team, and family, and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of such an outstanding organization. The national recognition we’ve received confirms the excellence of everyone here.”

Baldrige Award recipients will be recognized during a formal ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland, in the spring of 2025. The ceremony will be followed by the Quest for Excellence Conference, where Baldrige Award recipients and other leading organizations share best practices and innovations that can help any organization improve.

The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program is a public-private partnership within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is dedicated to promoting U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology. The program has fostered the adoption of proven leadership, management and operational best practices, and supported a global community that values people, organizational learning, continuous improvement and striving for sustained excellence.