By focusing on its mission values, a hospital can enhance the quality of patient care, improve staff morale, promote cost-effectiveness, and achieve a competitive advantage in the hospital marketplace. Since 1979 Saint Joseph Hospital, Kansas City, MO, has conducted a project to clarify and apply its values to the organization's overall direction and the everyday work setting. The project has proven that a concentration on mission values can benefit both the hospital's basic "spirit" and its bottom line. Twelve guiding principles are essential to creating a values-focused hospital: 1. Begin with a commitment. 2. Identify, involve, and educate "stakeholders". 3. Identify and use appropriate resources. 4. Assess organizational needs. 5. Identify the organization's values. 6. Translate mission values into everyday language. 7. Use an explicit, visible process built with a core set of process tools. 8. Document and showcase results. 9. Link the values work to the organization's overall direction and goals and to day-to-day management issues. 10. Think and act strategically. 11. Weave values focus into the fabric of the organization to ensure permanence and long-term success. 12. Model behavior on values.