Doctor named as examiner for national quality award program Published June 1, 2006 ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) -- An Air Force Reserve Command doctor has been selected to the 2006 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award. The award, created by public law in 1987, is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive. Col. (Dr.) William B. Klein, chief of the aerospace medicine division for the command surgeon, will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted by health care organizations for the nation’s highest quality award, according to American Society for Quality officials. The board is composed of about 500 leading experts from industry, professional and trade organizations, education and health care organizations and government. According to American Society for Quality officials, those selected meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition. “I was encouraged to apply by one of my professional societies based on the Malcolm Baldrige folks wanting more medical doctors to apply and my experience doing clinical quality measures for the Air Force,” Dr. Klein said. This will be Dr. Klein’s first year serving on the board of examiners. “This is good training in how to run effective organizations that dovetails nicely with the Lean, Six Sigma emphasis the Air Force has put on its business practices,” he said. “I am hoping I can help do the same for Air Force Reserve medical services.” As a member of the board, Dr. Klein will take part in a preparation course based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and the scoring and evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award. More information is available on the Baldrige National Quality Program’s website at www.baldrige.nist.gov.(Courtesy of Air Force Reserve Command News Service)