Improving STD Clinic Efficiency Video
June 8, 2012
South Carolina residents had high rates of Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STD), long wait-times in the clinic, and a lack of nursing staff to meet the demand for services. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control staff decided that there had to be a better way to improve access...
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Creating a Culture of Quality Improvement Video
June 8, 2012
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control staff implemented a quality improvement (QI) project to decrease wait-times in Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) clinics. This resulted in more available appointments and improved staff morale. The successes experienced in this project have...
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Public Health Quality Improvement Encyclopedia
June 5, 2012
Quality improvement (QI) in public health is the use of a deliberate and defined improvement process, such as Plan-Do-Check-Act, which is focused on activities that are responsive to community needs and improving population health. It is essential for health departments to use QI tools to fulfill their...
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Key Ingredients in Public Health Quality Improvement
May 29, 2012
The emphasis on quality improvement (QI) continues to intensify for public health departments. The growing focus on accreditation, along with realistic concerns about optimizing efficiency while positively impacting the public’s health, are fueling this interest. To support the efforts of health departments...
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Making AIM Statements More Robust
April 19, 2012
Quality improvement teams should begin their improvement efforts by creating an AIM statement that defines the problem and the goals. PHF’s Senior Quality Advisor Jack Moran and Maine Department of Health and Human Service’s Performance Improvement Manager Brynn Riley wrote an article detailing the...
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3-Step Competency Prioritization Sequence
February 13, 2012
The Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) define a broad array of professional development areas a public health organization may wish to consider in designing and executing a workforce development plan—a key requirement for Public Health Department Accreditation. However,...
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Solve The Real Problem Using Root Cause Analysis
February 9, 2012
The Root Cause Analysis is a QI tool used to define the main cause of a problem and identify the actions necessary to permanently eliminate it. Fixing the main cause of the problem prevents continuously addressing minor symptoms of the problem. This article by Grace Duffy and PHF QI Experts Jack Moran...
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How to Focus Your Training and Professional Development Efforts to Improve the Skills of Your Public Health Organization (2011 APHA Annual Meeting)
November 21, 2011
This presentation addresses the use of a quality improvement tool, the prioritization matrix, to identify workforce development needs. In this example, the relative importance of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals domains is considered in order to help public health organizations focus resources...
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Quality Improvement Transforms Knox County Tennessee
November 17, 2011
Knox County Health Department in Tennessee began using Quality Improvement (QI) tools and techniques to address asthma management in their local community. At the conclusion of an asthma management demonstration project, funded by AstraZeneca, Knox County administrators wanted to integrate QI into...
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Improving the Quality of Adult Asthma Care in East Tennessee
October 4, 2011
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Under leadership from the Summit Medical Group, three teams including the City of Knoxville, Statcare Pulmonary Consultants, and Tennessee Valley Primary Care, participated in a rapid Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to ...
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