Blog

The Action Plan is a common step on the road to accreditation. Using quality improvement (QI) principles and tools, PHF can provide many types of support to help health departments needing Action Plans to achieve accreditation. This is just one of the ways that PHF supports accreditation preparation....

A Tale of Three Cities on the Journey to Accreditation

Posted in: Performance Management and Quality Improvement

September 18, 2015

What do the health departments in Ann Arbor (MI), Missoula (MT), and New Orleans (LA) have in common? They each approached the Public Health Foundation (PHF) in 2012 on their journey to accreditation. They had unique needs, timelines, resources, and experiences. Yet each benefited from using the Plan-Do-Check-Act...

Engage Reluctant Staff in Accreditation

Posted in: Performance Management and Quality Improvement

September 9, 2015

The authors from the Alabama Department of Public Health include Carol Heier, Performance Improvement Manager/Accreditation Coordinator; Valerie Cochran, Assistant Nursing Director; and Annie Vosel, Director of the Division of Women's and Children's Health and Title X Family Planning. Achieving...

Recapping a Year in the Field

Posted in: Data Analysis, Infrastructure, Performance Management and Quality Improvement, PHF News, Strategic Planning, and Workforce Development

August 5, 2015

It has been a busy year for our Public Health Foundation (PHF) experts who deliver Performance Improvement (PI) Services in performance management, quality improvement (QI), and workforce development. They covered a lot of ground, providing customized on-site technical assistance (TA) and training in...

Stuck in a Rut? Take a Look Through the Nine Windows

Posted in: Performance Management and Quality Improvementby Sonja Armbruster

March 19, 2015

Sonja Armbruster, MA works for Wichita State University’s Center for Community Support and Research. She is a Quality Improvement Expert for the Public Health Foundation. The definition of insanity—“doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”—is so common it is considered...

Accountability Reexamined – The "New" Accountability

Posted in: Performance Management and Quality Improvement

March 11, 2015

Harry Lenderman, EdD is a Quality Improvement Expert for the Public Health Foundation. Use of the word “accountability” seems to have evolved from traditional views. Traditionally, we find ways to “hold people accountable.” This article presents an alternative view in the context of quality improvement...

Charting a New Way Forward: Washoe County’s Experience with a Fundamental Review of the Health District

Posted in: Infrastructure, Performance Management and Quality Improvement, and Strategic Planning

December 16, 2014

Kevin Dick is the Washoe County District Health Officer in Reno, Nevada. In April 2013, I was appointed interim Health Officer of the Washoe County Health District. The Health District, like many, was experiencing years of declining revenue and deficit spending. Our position was unsustainable and,...

New Funding Opportunity for Local Health Department Accreditation Preparation Support from NACCHO

Posted in: Performance Management and Quality Improvement, TRAIN, and Workforce Development

October 30, 2013

With funding from the CDC’s Office for State, Tribal, Local, & Territorial Support, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) recently announced a funding opportunity for local health departments (LHDs) to engage in accreditation readiness activities. The 2013–2014 Accreditation...

Brenda Nickel: Revitalizing Performance Management Efforts in Kansas

Posted in: Performance Management and Quality Improvement

July 13, 2012

Brenda Nickel is the Performance Management Director & Accreditation Coordinator for the Center for Performance Management at the Kansas Department of Health & Environment The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is one of many health departments in the process of revitalizing performance...

Quality Improvement Is Not Just For Problems: Success and Effect Diagram

Posted in: Infrastructure, Performance Management and Quality Improvement, and Workforce Developmentby Jack Moran

June 24, 2011

Quality Improvement tools and techniques have been used extensively for solving problems in organizations. The authors1 of Quality Improvement Is Not Just For Problems: Success and Effect Diagram propose using those same methods to analyze successful processes. Understanding successful process...