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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Improving and Measuring the Impact of Training: Strategies and Methods
November 21, 2011
Under contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice (Council on Linkages) explored strategies, methods, and tools for improving and measuring the impact of training on the public health workforce. The results of work...
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Assessing and Building a Culture of Quality Improvement in Your Agency Presentation
July 12, 2011
These slides provide an overview of the culture of quality improvement (QI), the steps needed to build and change organizational culture, becoming aware of the six indicators of a culture, and how to rate an organization’s culture using a radar chart. These slides are excerpted from a presentation...
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Applying QI Techniques to Analyze Problems and Find Solutions Presentation
July 12, 2011
These presentation slides provide a basic introduction to quality improvement (QI) as it pertains to the National Public Health Performance Standards (NPHPS) and other public health initiatives and activities. Topics in the presentation include the purpose and usage of basic QI problem solving tools,...
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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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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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