Teams Toolbox
February 25, 2015
Forming and effectively leveraging teams is an essential element of individual quality improvement (QI) projects, as well as the development of an organization-wide culture of quality. However, the art and science of team construction and management are rarely taught; team leadership is bestowed on...
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Applying Performance Measurement to Public Health Policy Activities
August 7, 2012
The Public Health Foundation (PHF) and the American Public Health Association (APHA) have worked collaboratively to develop a new tool to help health departments assess and improve the performance of their policy activities. While other performance measurement and evaluation guides exist, this is...
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Strategic Practice Selection Exercise
June 29, 2012
The Strategic Practice Selection Exercise is a data driven decision making exercise to show how health departments can use a strategic practice selection process to assess the availability, affordability, accessibility, and utility of potential interventions. The priority areas selected for this exercise...
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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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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 Planning and Performance Measurement Reporting System
June 27, 2011
The goal of this rapid cycle improvement (RCI) project was to streamline the reporting process of the Minnesota Planning and Performance Measurement Reporting System to improve the content and quality of the data submitted and add more value for state and local stakeholders. RCI PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act)...
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Quality Improvement Is Not Just For Problems: Success and Effect Diagram
June 24, 2011
Quality Improvement tools and techniques have been used extensively for solving problems in organizations. The authors of the ASQ Newsletter article Quality Improvement is Not Just for Problems: Success and Effect Diagram propose using those same methods to analyze successful processes. Understanding...
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Conduct a Personalized SWOT: Align Yourself for Professional Growth
June 16, 2011
This free resource offers tools and methods for individuals to learn how to fully promote their talents, skills, and abilities within their organization. The personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) is a useful tool for investigating conflict between individual and organizational...
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A Lean Day in the Tulsa Health Department White Paper
April 13, 2011
With assistance from PHF, the Tulsa Health Department Quality Improvement Council (QIC) conducted a Lean event in three of its facilities with the objective of beautification of the environment and creating efficiency for the customer. Lean is a process management philosophy that helps optimize the...
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