Although we applaud Shortell et al's efforts to determine team effectiveness (Shortell SM, Marsteller JA, Lin M, et al. The role of perceived team effectiveness in improving chronic illness care. Med Care. 2004;42:10401048.) and do not dispute the findings of their work, we are concerned by the authors' use of the term Quality Improvement Scale as variable. They report developing, an abbreviated Baldrige scale based on the 4 dimensions of leadership, employee involvement in quality planning, human resource utilization, and focus on customer (ie, patient) satisfaction. From those 4 dimensions, the authors then focused on only patient satisfaction as study variable. The content of the scale (named Award Patient Satisfaction Focus in the Appendix) is generally consistent with portion of the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence's Category 3, Customer and Market Focus. But there are 7 Baldrige Categories, which are briefly mentioned under their Study Framework and Hypotheses. Thus, we believe naming variable Quality Improvement Scale, when it is based on portion of one category of the model, misleading. While patient satisfaction is a key Baldrige dimension, the Baldrige model is far broader. Each of Shortell et al's 6 other variables can also be viewed as addressing other categories of Baldrige Criteria. Organizational Culture is considered in Category 1, Leadership. Team Effectiveness Measures address Category 4, Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management. The remaining variables, Team Champion, Number of Changes Made, Depth of Changes Made, and Disease, would be considered in Category 6, Process Management. We believe the Baldrige model offers healthcare providers the best framework for performance improvement, and are pleased Shortell and his distinguished research team considered the Baldrige framework. The Baldrige Criteria are available for download at http://baldrige.nist.gov. Respectfully,