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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Quality Improvement Success in Kansas with H1N1 and Social Distancing
April 11, 2011
In the summer of 2009, Kansas Department of Health and Environment QI teams used flowcharting to create a new information alert system. The QI team identified three major channels for information. The teams subsequently used their new flowcharting skills to design isolation activities for infected individuals...
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Quality Improvement Success in Orange County, Florida with Documentation Cycle Time
April 11, 2011
The Orange County Health Department Division of Environmental Health in Florida chartered a QI team to improve customer satisfaction with the speed and accuracy of Septic System Permitting. Measurement of operations indicated that the causes for delay in issuing permits were uninformed contractors,...
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Quality Improvement Success in Orange County, Florida with Operational Efficiency
April 11, 2011
The Orange County Health Department in Florida chartered a QI team to reduce total time for administering child immunizations. With assistance from Grace Duffy, the QI team identified a number of disruptions to the process, including times when patients’ families were waiting to be interviewed and for...
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Quality Improvement Success in Orange County, Florida with Early Syphilis Detection
April 11, 2011
Between 2004 and 2005, the Orange County Health Department (OCHD) in Florida experienced a 45% increase in new early syphilis cases in its jurisdiction, from 136 cases to 195 cases per year. Surveillance data also showed significant increases in early syphilis over the previous four years. If not controlled,...
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Quality Improvement Success in Saginaw County, Michigan with Assessment Training
April 11, 2011
The Saginaw County Department of Public Health (SCDPH) in Michigan used quality improvement (QI) to pilot a community self-assessment training program. SCDPH included community partners in the QI event to create more efficient channels of communication with critical faith-based and other non-governmental...
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Sedgwick County Health Department Storyboard - Purchasing Process
April 4, 2011
The Quality Improvement Committee at the Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD) in Kansas identified improving the purchasing process as one of the eight improvement areas to address in an effort to develop a culture of QI at the agency.
The SCHD staff lacked an understanding of the purchasing...
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