Institute For Wisconsin's Health Blog RSS

Recruitment and Radar

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Recruitment of new local and tribal health department partners for the third year of WIQI has begun and so far the response has been excellent! If your health department is considering participation, now is the time to apply. The grant year runs May 1, 2010 to April 2011. The deadline for application is 5 PM, March 15, 2010.

As part of their first year in the WIQI project, our "freshman" health departments recently completed a self-assessment using the Public Health Accreditation Board draft standards and a 0 to 4 scoring system with 0 indicating "no capacity" and 4 "optimal capacity". This radar chart illustrates the aggregated scores in each domain for the group. (Each health department has also developed its own radar chart.) This data analysis tool provides a snapshot of areas of self-assessed strength and weakness and can be used to aid discussion and prioritization.

WIQI Important Dates

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT

WIQI partners should mark their calendars for the following dates. More information will be communicated as it becomes available.

1. Webinar on strategic planning in the context of accreditation, March 15, 10-11 AM. Presenter: Nancy Young, IWHI Executive Director and Founding Principal, Gray Horse Consulting

2. Spring 2010 Quality Improvement Tools Webinar #1. Using the inter-relationship diagraph, April 6, 1-2 PM. Presenters: Kate Konkle, UW Population Health Fellow and Heidi Keating, IWHI Quality Improvement Consultant

3. Spring 2010 Quality Improvement Tools Webinar #2. Nominal group technique and pareto charts, April 13, 1 PM. Presenters: Kate Konkle, UW Population Health Fellow and Heidi Keating, IWHI Quality Improvement Consultant

4. WIQI Partner In-Person Partner Meeting, May 6, 2010. Location and agenda to be determined.

Public Health Accreditation Board

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT

The Public Health Accreditation Board is now seeking comments from health departments on three documents: a Guide to Accreditation, a Readiness Checklist and a Statement of Intent. Follow this link and provide your input today. http://www.phaboard.org/index.php/beta_test/give_us_your_feedback/

You sign up for the free PHAB e-newsletter at the same site. PHAB is the primary source for the national voluntary accreditation updates.

WIQI Partner Meeting Agenda

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT

The WIQI Partner Meeting is scheduled for February 18, 2010 at the Jefferson Street Inn, Wausau, WI. Follow this link to the WIQI Partner Meeting Agenda.

Whew!

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT

The last few months of 2009 were a blur for most health departments - a blur of activity around pandemic response. And our Wisconsin partners responded admirably. While the pandemic is "not over 'til it is over," the ringing in of 2010 gives us an opportunity to turn attention to exciting new QI and accreditation events and to take stock of progress that has been made over the past few months despite H1N1.

The New
An Important Visit
Partners and national site visitors to meet on February 18 in Wausau. This meeting will focus on progress made so far by the QI affinity groups that were formed around common interests at our September 2009 meeting; the self assessments that our freshman (and some sophomore) agencies are engaging in using an Excel-based workbook that we developed in response to the national draft accreditation standards; and how sophomore agencies are grappling with some of the more difficult standards relating to evaluation and research. A highlight of this event will be the presence of our national site visit team made up of consultants like Lee Theilan and Les Beitsch, project staff from the National Network of Public Health Institutes, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and visitors from other Multi-State Learning Collaborative states. We expect great discussions and dialog!

A New Publication
Our project is developing a monograph on the public health essential services targeted for a local policy maker audience. The idea is to develop a clear, brief document addressing what the services are in practical terms and why they matter. There is interest in this product by other states with similar public health delivery systems and by some national organizations as well. Stay tuned as this develops.

An Invitation
In the next month or two we will be inviting new health departments to become part of WIQI in the third grant year which will begin on May 1, 2010 and continue through April 30, 2011. If you are a Wisconsin health department leader, please consider us! It is a great group and an opportunity to explore accreditation preparation how quality improvement tools can make a difference in your agency.

The Old - Well Not So Old Really!
Practical QI Projects
Agencies with similar QI project interests formed in September and are working together on QI projects. For example, the Southern Region Office, Appleton and Wauwatosa Health Departments are looking at engagement on the issue of built environments. The Monroe County Health Department is looking at improving PHN orientation and the Lincoln, Jefferson, Oak Creek, Shawano and Waushara Health Departments worked together to develop an improved customer satisfaction survey and process. These are just SOME examples of QI piloting efforts among our local partner agencies. WDPH regional offices have launched QI projects too - one example from the Northeast office addressed cell phone use by sanitarians.

How Do We Rate?
Our project developed an Excel-based workbook for LHDs who wish to assess their progress toward meeting the national voluntary accreditation draft standards. The standards are built around the public health essential services and the workbook allows a health department to rate on a 0-4 scale how they "measure up". Of course, one main purpose of this self-assessment is to generate discussion and voluntary action around essential services. Whether our partner agencies choose to pursue national voluntary accreditation when it becomes a reality in 2011 or not - so far, they have found this assessment process to be enlightening.

Accreditation Pizza and Chocolate

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

_The June 2009 issue of NACCHO's accreditNATION newsletter features an interview with Gretchen Sampson, Director of the Polk County Health Department, one of the local partner agencies in the WIQI project. Gretchen discusses how her agency is integrating the results of the NACCHO self-assessment into strategic planning and other activities with the assistance of food rewards.

New Partners New Look New Project Year!

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

May 1, 2009 marked the beginning of the second project year for Wisconsin's Public Health Quality Initiative (WIQI). Last year's public health leaders have now been joined by another group of 11 local health departments. Over the next several months these pioneers will explore ways in which they can best prepare for the national voluntary accreditation process due to begin in 2011 and integrate quality improvement principles and tools in their agencies. The first in-person meeting of this year is scheduled for the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells on June 17, 2009. Here is a map that illustrates the 2008 and 2009 partners.

Wisconsin's Virtual Summit

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Provide Input on National Voluntary Accreditation Standards

We'd like to gather Wisconsin's feedback on the national standards for accreditation in one place and then pass it on

to the PHAB. So we have created a Virtual Summit meeting in survey form. There are many standards -but don't feel
as if you need to review every standard and detail in order to comment! If there is a particular area that interests you and you only have time to review and comment on that, fine. We will take any input you have time to offer
-and we will pass it on to the PHAB. And the Wisconsin-specific results will be posted on this website after April 30, 2009.

Here is a survey in which you can provide feedback on the Public Health Accreditation Board's standards for

local health departments. The local (and state) draft standards can be found at the PHAB site.

This survey is for feedback on the Public Health Accreditation Board's standards for state

health departments.The state draft standards can be found at

The summit will close on April 20, 2009. This is Wisconsin's chance to help to craft national voluntary standards. Let's make our voices heard!

Site Visit Highlights State and Local Progress

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

A national team of visitors from the MLC3:Lead States in Public Health Quality Improvement initiative met with eight local health department (LHD) project partners and Wisconsin Division of Public Health (WDPH) leaders in Madison on March 4. It was a highly interactive and positive day! New Division of Public Health Administrator, Seth Foldy, Deputy Administrator, Tom Sieger and all WDPH bureau directors were in attendance.

WDPH Regional Office Pilot

One highlight was an overview given by Lieske Giese and Kate Konkle of WDPH on the progress the WDPH regional offices have made in assessment based on the essential services framework. The national team noted that while systems vary greatly nationwide, most states have some sort of regional framework for public health service. They encouraged us to share the assessment tools that the regional offices have developed and piloted. So, for our national colleagues, and for people within Wisconsin that want to see how WDPH is approaching quality improvement, here are the most recent versions of the state assessment tools.

Overview of WDPH role in essential services

WDPH Regional Office Internal Assessment

Local Health Department Survey

Central Office Survey

Draft National Accreditation Standards Released

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Our Turn

National Release

The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) released the much-anticipated public health accreditation draft standards on February 2. The PHAB is offering multiple ways for individuals and groups to provide input on the draft and the PHAB website is the definitive source for review, and for information on the vetting timeline and what will happen next. There are 31 standards that will be applicable to state, territorial and local health departments who apply for accreditation beginning in 2011.

In Wisconsin

As part of the WIQI Accreditation Project, the six Wisconsin Division of Public Health (WDPH) regional office directors are piloting an assessment tool that they developed based on the essential services. They will then share the pilot results with colleagues and continue to explore ways in which WDPH can prepare for state-level accreditation.

The 15 pioneering WIQI local project partners have been busy as well. By mid-February, they will have completed use of the NACCHO Local Health Department Self-Assessment Tool in their agencies. Their next challenge is to apply the results of that assessment to their plans for accreditation preparation and quality improvement (QI) activities, and those topics will be central at the upcoming project partner meeting in Wausau on February 17. Project partners (must be a registered user) should log on to the Forum "next door" to join into the pre-meeting discussions regarding uniform data sets and adolescent alcohol QI; for more meeting details; and other newly posted resources including the WDPH's state-level assessment tool and notes from the January teleconference.

Action On All Fronts

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMT

In Wisconsin

Welcome to Seth Foldy, the new Administrator of the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. Dr. Foldy has a strong interest in public health quality improvement and we look forward to his involvement with the WIQI project!

This month, our 15 WIQI local health department project partners are completing their use of the NACCHO Self-Assessment Tool and are also beginning to gear up their quality improvement (QI) training activities. Two "target teams" will focus on learning more about how QI can be used to address adolescent alcohol use and uniform data sets. New discussion boards have been created for registered users in the Forum (next door on this site) and they will be used as "the court" for the team members to interact.

National Action

This has been a month when all eyes have been on national developments and for those of you interested in public health accreditation, that trend will continue. Vetting of the voluntary accreditation standards will begin in February and Wisconsin will be an especially active part of that process. For more information, visit the Public Health Accreditation Board web site.

Keeping it between the lines in 2009

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMT

What lines?

When I was a health department director a few years back, my colleagues would only half jokingly say, “we really should have a manual for running one of these things!” Well, 2009 has arrived and there still isn’t a manual per se, but progress has been made in developing standards that can guide our direction. One great example is the Operational Definition of a Functional Health Department. In the words of the National Association of City& County Health Officials (NACCHO), the operational definition, “defines what people in any community can reasonably expect from their local health department.” This definition has become the basis for building the NACCHO Local HealthDepartment Self-Assessment Tool and the soon-to-be-released draft standards for accreditation from the Public HealthAccreditation Board (PHAB).

Must-View Webcast

If you have been waitingfor a concise overview of the national voluntary accreditation movement, your wait is over. On December 15, the PHAB aired a free webcast that summarized progress-to-date and plans for the immediate future. Led by Dr. Bill Riley, Interim Executive Director of the PHAB, the delivery was straight forward and the Q and A session was rich with questions that will be of interest to you. It can serve as a fine leadership briefing and/or staff training tool and you can find it archived at http://www.phaboard.org.

A few highlights from the webcast:

The PHAB has developed 30 standards and 120 measures based on the Operational Definition and National Public Health Performance Standards Program and other sources.
The vetting process for the standards and measures will proceed through April 2009.
By mid 2011, the PHAB will be open for business – and that business will be accrediting health departments nationwide.

Because of Wisconsin’s Accreditation and Quality Improvement Project, led by this institute (IWHI) in partnership with the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, our state has a bit clearer vision of “the lines” being developed nationally and has an inside track forproviding feedback for the national standard development. Our 15 local healthdepartment project partners are now using the NACCHO self-assessment tool and building quality improvement experience so that they can be better prepared for accreditation when it becomes a reality. If you are a health department or board of health leader, please consider joining our project in our second year beginning May 1, 2009. Check in here for more information over the next two months.

For anyone interested in public health quality improvement:

1. One immediate opportunity to get involved on a national level - PHAB is seeking members forthe new Fees & Incentives Workgroup. This workgroup will develop a fee structure for national accreditation applicants and identify strategies for securing incentives for participants.

2. This blog page (Project Portal) now has an RSS feed option. If you have an RSS reader and wish to be notified automatically when there is a new blog entry, just click on the orange speaker icon in the right column of this page and follow your reader's instructions for subscribing. RSS has been available on the IWHI news page for sometime, so you may subscribe to that as well.

For WIQIProject Partners:

1. Reminder -The second Project Partner Teleconference is scheduled for January 13, 2009 at10 AM. Call in instructions and agenda will be posted in the Forum soon.

2. And we are finalizing the agenda for the February 17, 2009 in person meeting. It will be held at the Jefferson Street Inn in Wausau and reservation (for those who choose to come the evening before)and registration information will be coming soon.

3. It would be GREAT to have one or more of our project partners involved in the PHAB Fees & Incentives Workgroup (see number 1 above and act quickly if you are interested)

Wishing you all every success in 2009!

Brrrrrrr!

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Hmmmm!

Here are some good things about frigid weather, scant daylight and the end of the year…they force us tostay inside, slow down and reflect.

Maybe some of your reflection this year will include this question, “How can I be certain that the public health services in my community are delivered in a way that impacts health in the greatest possible way?” And I hope that one of your answers might be, “I will take an honest look at what we are doing, compare it to some solid standards, design improvements, and act to make those improvements a reality.”

That is the mindset that the 15 local health departments who volunteered to be part of the 2008 Wisconsin Public Health Quality Improvement and Accreditation Project adopted early this year. They have begun the assessment process and will be designing improvements and plans for change in the upcoming months. And the Division of Public Health (DPH) Regional Office Directors have begun a pilot project wherein they are applying draft standards to their own operations – again to honestly assess, adjust, improve and then share what they have learned with other parts of DPH.

If you are a public health leader, I hope you will consider joining us in our efforts to improve public health quality in 2009!

Foranyone interested in public health quality improvement efforts:

1. NACCHO continues to be a strong national leader in accreditation and quality improvement efforts and the website is a rich source of resources. Consider signing up for the accreditNATION newsletter at:

www.naccho.org/topics/infrastructure/accreditation/index.cfm

2. The December 2, 2008 NACCHO Webcast, QI in Action: Stories from Local Health Departments, has been archived. You may access it forfree at

https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/schedule/display.do?udc=xr97hqb5iw6n

For WIQIProject Partners:

1. Reminder- The first Project PartnerTeleconference is scheduled for December 9, 2008 at 10 AM. Refer to the call in instructions andagenda sent by email on December 4, 2008.

2. Another reminder (not that anyone would need reminders at this time of year J) – To register for the December 15,2008 PHAB webcast at www.phaboard.org.

Mid November Update

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Mid November Update

For anyone interested in public health quality improvement and accreditation:

1. The Public Health Accreditation Board is hosting the first in a series of national update webcasts on December 15, 2008 from 11:30 AM to 1 PM. To register, visit www.phaboard.org.
2. A public health program evaluation resource for your consideration (or reconsideration) is the CDC Framework for Program Evaluation located at http://www.cdc.gov/eval/framework.htm. Within this section is a 92 page PDF self study guide.
3. Thanks to Terri Timmers, WDPH Northern Region Director, for sharing this newly published resource entitled, Fundamentals of Evaluating Partnerships. This document is the latest addition to a series of evaluation guides developed by the CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) and it applies the evaluation framework noted above to partnership evaluation. This guide is available at http://www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/state_program/evaluation_guides/
4. A reminder (thanks to Mary Young, WDPH Southern Region Director) that there is a listing of evidence-based practices for Healthiest Wisconsin 2010 on the WDHS website at http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/statehealthplan/practices/index.htm

For WIQI Project Partners:  

1. The WIQI Forum (for registered users only) QI Target Issues Forum contains a link to a NY Times article on adolescent alcohol use in Wisconsin.
2. An agenda for the brief project partner teleconference on December 9.2008 will be coming soon. Please keep that date and the January 13.2009 dates on your calendar.
3. Our project's second quarter report is posted in the Resources section of the Forum and NACCHO responses to recent questions generated in the optional essential services teleconferences are posted under the Questions for NACCHO discussion board.

Nancy

November Continued

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Accredited? Licensed?

As we approach some important seasons in Wisconsin, here are a some resources and updates:

For anyone interested in public health quality improvement:

1. Check the news section of this website in the next day or two for a release that describes the Wisconsin Public Health Quality Improvement and Accreditation Project.

2. An update from the Public Health Accreditation Board on the revised timeline for national accreditation standards review at http://www.phaboard.org/standards.html

3. Check out the text of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey’saddress, Public Health's "A-Ha" Moment and What it Means for theAmerican People at http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/rlm2008asthonaccho.pdf

4. RAND is offering a free webinar on applying quality improvement (QI) methods to public health emergency preparedness on Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. EST.Registration is limited and you can sign up at https://admin.acrobat.com/_a848853632/prepareqi/event/

For WIQI Project Partners:  

1. The WIQI Forum (for registered users only) now has a new discussion board for our chosen quality improvement target issues, uniform public health data sets and adolescent alcohol use. Check it out along with updates in the NACCHO Self-Assessment Tool and Press boards.

2. A reminder to mark your calendars for brief project partner teleconferences on December 9.2008 and January 13.2009, both at 10 AM.

3. On 11.7.08, The MLC-3 national project offered a webinar entitled, Key Elements of a QI Project. You can download slides and/or the complete audio from the webinar by going to www.nnphi.org, clicking on grantee resources, and searching under meeting/teleconference materials.

Have a great weekend!

Nancy

November

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Decisions Decisions!

Here are some easy decisions for WIQI partners on this Election Day:

Mark your calendar for an optional meeting with national Multi-State Learning Collaborative site visitors on March 4, 2009 at a TBD Wisconsin location. If you are interested in exchanging ideas in person with representatives from the national collaborative partners (NNPHI, RWJF, NACCHO and others), you may want to put a hold on this date. More information will follow.

Registered users should check out the Resources section of the WIQI Forum, which now holds two new items of interest for project partners:

1. An Excel spreadsheet that local health departments may use to record scores and document rationale for same.
2. A revised document for services VII and VIII provided by WDPH Southern Region Director, Robert Harris, in preparation for the Nov. 10 essential services teleconference.

October

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

No Tricks, Only Treats

For anyone interested in public health quality improvement efforts:

1. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has updated its www.healthfinder.gov to include more information on disease prevention for consumers, and developed a Consensus Statement on Quality in the Public Health System.

2. The North Carolina Public Health Institute is offering a national webcast on December 15 entitled, Public Health Survival: Leadership in a Falling Market. For more information go to http://www.sph.unc.edu/nciph/public_health_survival_leadership_in_a_falling_market_8968_9396.html

For WIQI Project Partners:

1. The WIQI Forum (for registered users only) has been reorganized to allow for easier access. This includes renaming some of the resource files so they describe the contents more precisely.

2. A polling function is now available in the forum, but don't worry, we will NOT use it to request input on the upcoming elections.

State Health Officer Webcast - On October 24, 2008

I had the privilege of sharing the bill with Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary, Karen Timberlake, during a live webcast for Wisconsin's state, local and tribal health departments. Attached is a PDF of the presentation. Feel free to use it locally and please contact me if you have additional questions.

Click Here for the PDF of the presentation

Quality Improvement Session at APHA

Doug Gieryn, Director of the Winnebago County Health Department shared this with us.

Those attending the American Public Health Association Meeting in San Diego next week might want to catch this presentation:

Applying quality improvement techniques to drive results #189198
Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 8:30 AM

Co-presented by:
Ron Bialek, MPP, Public Health Foundation, Washington, DC
John W. Moran, PhD, CQM, Quality Improvement, Public Health Foundation, Washington, DC
Sarah Gillen, National Network of Public Health Institutes, New Orleans, LA

Essential services teleconference series continues with adjustments

This morning during the essential services teleconference, we decided to change the format of future calls a bit. During the coming week, Lieske Giese, will send out the essential services summary for V and VI. Project partners should review the document in advance and be prepared to bring up questions or suggestions related to those items that may be challenging at the next teleconference which we be at 8 AM on November 3. (Call in specifics are posted below by popular demand.)

We also underscored the fact that this is an exploratory process, especially this year, and that scoring examples provided by the Regional Office Directors thus far are just that - examples - not a cookbook that would direct the way project partners score themselves. PLEASE remember that your honest, local assessment is most important. Make the best decisions you can based on the teleconference discussions, the guidance from the NACCHO tool, and your instincts. And record for your own reference (and for the good of the other project partners and the national effort if you decide to share your rationale) the reasons you scored yourself the way you did. There is a place to record notes on the online NACCHO LHD Self Assessment site and the project will provide you with an Excel template should you decide that format is better suited to your needs.

The Forum discussion will be updated with some new questions and resources based on today's call also. Look for a link to the CHIP website and a slide set on partnership indicators shared by Terri Timmers as a result of this morning's discussion.

Upcoming calls:

• Monday, November 3, 8-9 am - Essential Services 4 (Standard IV.B forward),5 and 6

• Monday, November 10, 8-9 am - Remaining Essential Services with additional calls to be scheduled as needed

Wisline Call in instructions

Local Number: 608-265-1000

Toll Free Number: 800-462-1257

Passcode: 1961 (followed by the # sign)

For technical assistance or to report problems during your conference call the U.W. Extension Helpline at 1-800-442-4614

Remember- As this project continues, we will depend on our project partners more and more to visit the web-based Project Portal and participate in the Forum discussions.

October 20, 2008 WIQI Accreditation Project Update.

An invitation - to view the items that were posted in the Forum (for registered project partners) this past week under the Subforum, "Quality Improvement Resources." Included are a basic QI template and sample briefing sheet; a sample QI policy from the Tacoma (WA) Health Department, a useful PDSA illustration from Michigan; and a web link for those who wish to learn more about QI management tools. Look for more resource postings this week.

Project partners who haven't taken the opportunity to post a comment, question or suggestion in the forums should consider doing so this week. While this is a new method of communicating for many, it holds great potential for keeping the project alive and relevant, if you participate. A few brave souls have ventured in. Please join us this week!

And finally a reminder - to join the Wisconsin Division of Public Health Regional Office Directors for the Monday morning teleconference series if you would like to be part of the essential services review discussion. All project partners should have received call-in information. Have a great week!

October WIQI Accreditation Project Update

Project partners are to complete their assessment using the NACCHO local health department self-assessment tool prior to January 31, 2009.