What to know
The concepts, resources, and links are intended to support state, tribal, local and territorial health departments as they head down the path of improving their performance.
Resources
Today, more than ever, there is growing interest, awareness, and momentum for the promise of performance management and quality improvement. Other sectors—such as industry, healthcare organizations, and business—have successfully used these concepts and tools to improve service delivery and process performance. In public health settings, performance management and quality improvement tools are being promoted and supported as an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of public health agencies, systems, and services.
Organizational websites with performance management & quality improvement resources
Many organizations have already built clearinghouse websites with information and resources related to performance management, quality improvement, and performance improvement. Below is a selection of links that will help to meet the varied needs of state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments in exploring these topics.
American Public Health Association (APHA)
APHA promotes quality improvement in public health systems in a comprehensive way across the nation. For example, APHA has participated with its key partners to promote the National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP), the accreditation of public health agencies, and the certification of graduate trained public health workers.
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
Through its performance improvement projects, ASTHO aims to foster a culture of quality improvement in state and territorial health agencies and systems. ASTHO's website provides information on performance management leadership, quality improvement, accreditation, and other programs.
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
NACCHO provides tools, links, and technical assistance to local health departments around performance management, quality improvement, accreditation preparation, community health improvement planning, and more.
National Indian Health Board (NIHB)
NIHB supports and promotes quality improvement and accreditation efforts in Indian Country.
National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI)
NNPHI is the national membership network committed to helping public health institutes promote and sustain improved health and wellness for all. NNPHI's website provides information and resources on performance improvement, community health improvement planning, and more.
Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB)
The goal of the accreditation program is to improve and protect the health of every community by advancing the quality and performance of public health departments.
Public Health Foundation (PHF)
PHF offers a number of tools and resources for supporting performance management and quality improvement in health departments and organizations across the country, including extensive resources on the following page:
Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII)
The Public Health Informatics Institute recognizes the value of integrating performance standards into public health processes and works to build informatics skills and capacities within public health organizations.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides targeted investments to strengthen public health systems, to support efforts to build evidence for what works, and to increase collaboration with a range of partners—policy-makers, business, education, health care, and community organizations around public health initiatives.
Models, tools, & methods
There are numerous quality improvement methods and techniques that are used successfully in public health settings. These include Plan-Do-Check-Act, Cause and Effect Diagrams, Flow Charting, Root Cause Analysis (5 Why's), and Pareto Charts. The resources listed below provide an overview of QI tools and their use within public health.
- Embracing Quality in Public Health: A Practitioner's Quality Improvement Handbook [PDF-9MB]
- The Public Health Quality Improvement Handbook ($): A comprehensive resource including information on PM/QI tools and models such as dashboards, SMART objectives, the Baldrige Criteria and more can be found in The Public Health Quality Improvement Handbook as compiled by Ron Bialek, Grace Duffy and John Moran.
Modular Kaizen Workbook
This book is about the use of modular kaizen, defined as an improvement or redesign project planned along a timeline that recognizes the highly volatile nature of the public health organization's core business processes.
Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence
Provides a framework that any organization can use to improve overall performance. The Criteria are organized into seven Categories: Leadership; Strategic Planning; Customer Focus; Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management; Workforce Focus; Process Management; and Results.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Model for Improvement
The Model for Improvement is a simple tool for accelerating improvement. The model is not meant to replace change models that organizations may already be using, but rather to accelerate improvement. This model has been used successfully by hundreds of health care organizations to improve many different health care processes and outcomes.
National Public Health Performance Standards Program
The National Public Health Performance Standards provide a framework to assess capacity and performance of public health systems and public health governing bodies. This framework can help identify areas for system improvement, strengthen state and local partnerships, and ensure that a strong system is in place for providing the 10 essential public health services.
Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP)
MAPP is a framework and tool for community health improvement developed by NACCHO and CDC.
Other useful resources
Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, Accreditation and Quality Improvement Special Editions
Special issues of the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice focused on public health accreditation and quality improvement have been published in recent years. These issues include commentaries and articles about the Exploring Accreditation Initiative, CDC's perspective on voluntary accreditation, the role of the NPHPSP in accreditation and quality improvement, the Operational Definition, current state-based efforts, and more.
- Journal of Public Health Management & Practice—July/August 2007—Accreditation
- Journal of Public Health Management & Practice—January/February 2010, Volume 16, Issue 1—Quality Improvement in Public Health
American Society for Quality
Provides information about training and conferences, as well as links to numerous quality improvement resources.
CDC Evaluation Resources
CDC evaluation documents, workbooks, tools, and framework-based materials.
The National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII)
The National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII) was an innovative program started by CDC to infuse quality and performance improvement methods in health departments across the country. Learn more about NPHII's impact and read a compendium describing its accomplishments, including 71 stories from state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments.