Released almost a year ago, the Public Health Foundation’s (PHF) Public Health Quality Improvement Encyclopedia provides public health professionals and others with 75 quality improvement (QI) tools and examples to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your work. With the Encyclopedia, you can choose QI projects, monitor impact, analyze stakeholder attitudes, and create solutions for your organization.
Brenda Nickel MS, RN, Performance Management Director & Accreditation Coordinator at the Kansas Department of Health & Environment, has successfully used the Encyclopedia to develop QI plans, prepare for accreditation, manage projects, and solve problems with QI concepts. She was excited to share her thoughts on this resource.
“The Public Health Quality Improvement Encyclopedia has been...so valuable in fact, I’ve ordered additional copies to provide to staff that have questions about quality improvement or have a problem that they’re trying to solve,” Nickel said. "I really do love this text - using it more and more. It gives me confidence."
Nickel highlighted some of the most useful tools from the Encyclopedia in her Department's efforts. These include:
- Control and Influence Matrix
- Helps team leaders understand which issues are within the control of the team and what types of knowledge team members have
- Five Hows
- Explores alternative solutions to a problem
- Force and Effect Diagram
- Identifies barriers to attaining an AIM statement, goal, or future state
- Gantt Chart
- Lists all activities required to complete a project and identifies the start/end date of each activity
- Purpose Principle
- Helps an improvement team clarify the scope of the improvement effort before development of an AIM Statement or Team Charter
- SWOT Analysis
- Provides a systematic assessment of an organization’s internal and external environment
The staff at the Kansas Department of Health & Environment has used these and other QI tools in the Encyclopedia to make and inform improvements within their organization. They also refer to the Encyclopedia often because it has an easy-to-use format, including a description of each tool, instructions on when to use the tool, how to use the tool, what to consider as the next step in the process, and suggests tools to further expand on problem-solving and data collection.
See more QI products from PHF's Learning Resource Center and also visit PHF's resources and tools page for additional QI offerings.
Have you used the Public Health Quality Improvement Encyclopedia? Share your story with us by leaving a comment below or sending us an email.