News and Events

Human Impact Partners Health Equity Webinar Series Thursday, November 30, 2017 - HIP, in collaboration with the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, the National Collaborative for Health Equity, and NACCHO's Health Equity and Social Justice program, is hosting a four-part webinar series to discuss the strategic practices outlined in HIP's Health Equity Guide. Each webinar will focus on a set of strategic practices that health departments can take to pursue a wall-to-wall transformation of how they work internally, with communities, and alongside other government agencies. Click here for more information about this webinar series. Part 1: Building Internal Infrastructure to Advance Health Equity was held on November 16. Click here to view the slides. Part 2: Working Across Government to Advance Racial and Health Equity will be held on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 from 10:00 to 11:00 am PST. Click here to register for Part 2. Part 3: Fostering Community Partnerships to Advance Health Equity will be held on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 from 10:00 to 11:00 am PST. Click here to register for Part 3. Part 4: Championing Transformative Change to Advance Health Equity will be held on Thursday, February 15, 2018 from 10:00 to 11:00 am PST. Click here to register for Part 4.
Apply Now for NACCHO’s Model Practices Program Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - Do you have an outstanding practice related to your quality improvement efforts? Apply now for the National Association of County & City Health Official's (NACCHO) Model Practices Program! NACCHO's Model Practice Program nationally honors and recognizes outstanding local public health practice and shares the outstanding practices through the Model Practices Database. By submitting a practice, local health departments contribute to the overall improvement of public health through evidence-based best practice methods. Learn more about NACCHO's Model Practices Program and apply here by December 6, 2017.
PHAB Performance Management Webinar Thursday, November 2, 2017 - Register now for the Public Health Accreditation Board's (PHAB) Webinar titled, "Performance Management: Finding a Fit for Your Health Department" on November 16, 2017 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. This PHAB webinar will provide first-hand perspectives that will help participants to: Discuss the requirements for performance management as detailed in the PHAB Standards and Measures, Develop a strategy for identifying and monitoring agency performance measures, Describe a range of tools that health departments may use within their system for performance management, and Explore multiple tools and strategies currently being implemented through accredited health departments to support performance management. In this PHAB webinar, you'll hear from PHAB staff as well as individuals who lead public health performance management efforts at state and local health departments, including Terry Bryant, New Mexico Department of Health, Santa Fe; and Megan DiMeglio, Norwalk Health Department, Norwalk, Connecticut. Register today at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/156110146709866754. Questions? Contact Shirley Orr at Shirleyaorr@gmail.com.
New NICHQ Course on Effective Collaboration Wednesday, October 25, 2017 - The National Institute for Children's Health Quality now offers an online course titled Essentials of Collaboration: An Interactive Guide to Effective Collaboration. This interactive course explores how to produce positive population health outcomes through effective collaboration. Using a case study to help share key concepts, this course gives directions on breaking down silos, aligning activities, and working productively together. The course's definition of successful collaboration provides a foundation for partnering with others to make a difference in your community. Click here to view the online course.
APHA 2017 Annual Meeting: Performance Improvement and Accreditation Sessions Tuesday, October 17, 2017 - The APHA 2017 Annual Meeting will be in Atlanta from November 4-8. We've identified several sessions related to health department performance improvement and accreditation for you to consider as you plan your agenda for the meeting. Click here for registration information. The following sessions are related to performance improvement in state and/or local health departments: 4228.0 Using a data-driven planning process to build a quality improvement culture at a local health department 3317.0 Case Study: Management decisions in local health departments supported by evidence from organizational network analysis 3271.0 Performance Improvement Competencies for Public Health Professionals 3272.0 Piloting a Uniform Chart of Accounts for State and Local Health Departments 4080.0 Redesigning local health departments in West Virginia: Economies of scale and improved health outcomes from a consolidation of local health departments 3317.0 Nature of change and factors associated with change in number of patients served by local health departments in their clinics 3358.0 Demands and Limitations of Population Health Data for Local Health Departments 4080.0 Assessment of Organizational Trust and Readiness to Change within a Local Public Health Department 4227.0 LEAD_360: Taking a 360° approach to developing our health department 4261.0 Improving the Montana public health system though collaborations between the state health department and a non-profit foundation The following sessions focus specifically on public health department accreditation: 3379.0 Value of Accreditation during Turbulent Times 3379.0 Accreditation outcomes and performance improvement: Findings from accredited and non-accredited health departments 3379.0 Local public health department accreditation: Lessons learned from engaging in the PHAB accreditation process 4078.0 Collaborations, Partnerships, and Perceived Benefits of State Health Agency Accreditation 4205.0 Maximize Public Health Capacity and Outcomes: Leveraging the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) Standards to Optimize Oregon’s Public Health Modernization Initiative 4205.0 Do You Want to Standardize Your Health Department’s Services? Learn about Public Health Accreditation! 4205.0 Accreditation Support and Encouragement – Texas Style 4205.0 Georgia Public Health Association: National Public Health Accreditation Learning Track 4205.0 A Collective Impact: What the Initiation of the Accreditation Process Has Meant for the SC PHA 4400.0 Learning from Experiences with Public Health Accreditation Domain 8: Best Practices in Maintaining a Competent Workforce 5007.0 Evaluating Objectives within Community Health Improvement Plans: Is Accreditation related to Measurable Outcomes?
The What and Why of Continual Improvement Thursday, October 12, 2017 - Check out this article from Continual Impact describing the basics of continual improvement. "Virtually all organizations have made improvements over their lifetime. However, may report that the rate of change you are facing and the challenges it brings seems to be increasing. Is the rate of improvement being made enough to achieve your vision? Do you have the kind of organization that will create it? For example, what is occurring in your organization that keeps you up at night? Could it be the need to..." Click here to continue reading this article.
New QI Toolkit from the Public Health Foundation Thursday, October 5, 2017 - The Public Health Foundation (PHF) recently launched a new toolkit, Quality Improvement Tools to Advance Public Health Performance, which contains more than 30 online PHF quality improvement (QI) tools. The tools are organized into useful categories such as leadership development, team management, strategic planning, and several others. The toolkit also includes public health examples and templates to address needs identified during PHF's work in the field with public health and healthcare practitioners. Review this toolkit and try a new QI tool today.