Browse all QI submissions

Grand Traverse County Health Department
Completed
After noting that the scores on certification exams given after food safety training courses to restaurant workers were markedly lower for workers in Chinese restaurants, the county undertook a QI project that included Chinese restaurant owners, managers and workers in the process. Multiple...
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Completed
To address the high percentage of Oklahoma’s youth who were overweight or obese, the CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) after-school program improved their ability to achieve parental involvement and encouragement of at-home physical fitness and nutrition activities by adding fun...
Mid-Michigan District Health Department
Completed
The Mid-Michigan District Health Department optimized the performance of the automated telephone system for clients calling the health department to assure mis-routings were minimized, customers were directed to intended recipients, and customer satisfaction was improved.
Comanche County Health Department
Completed
The county health department used a QI planning approach to improve their planning processes for community meetings resulting in the community becoming more involved in improving its own health.
Deschutes County Health Services
Completed
Deschutes County Health Services improved the efficiency and accuracy of entering data on immunizations into the state immunization registry. The interventions tested included eliminating paperwork errors, balancing workload, and improving courier scheduling.
Green River District Health Department
Completed
The health department discovered that most of its employees were unaware of the many of the Department’s media activities for outreach and education. The department made several changes to increase employee awareness of current and new media efforts and achieved a major improvement on all three of...
Kane County Health Department
Completed
The health department needed all staff nurses to be able to give vaccinations for emergencies like the H1N1 influenza epidemic, including nurses working in roles that do not involve giving clinical care. They improved the process for keeping all nurses competent in determining when, how, and which...
Ofuskee County Health Department
Completed
This health department improved their method of engaging their community partners in the health improvement planning processes through meeting effectiveness surveys, more inclusive community representation, and improved communication.
Spokane Regional Health District
Completed
There was a lag between the time when health care providers diagnosed cases of sexually transmitted diseases and the providers notifying the health department. By improving the timeliness of the reports, the health department could quickly reach and treat contacts of the patient, thus...
St. Clair County Health Department
Completed
The local health department increased the number of infants and children receiving needed vaccines as part of a WIC visit, rather than referring them to another site and potentially losing that opportunity to protect them from getting a preventable disease or transmitting a vaccine-preventable...
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Completed
By implementing more accurate Medicaid billing procedures that resulted in an increase in Medicaid match revenue, the local health department was able to re-direct funds to necessary departmental strategic priorities that benefit the health of the local community.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Completed
This local health department addressed an unacceptable rate of low birth weight births by standardizing their referral process and timeframes; successfully making pre-natal care referrals earlier in the gestation period to ultimately improve the health of newborns in their county.
Allegan County Health Department
Completed
The local health department improved how they got customer satisfaction information from clients at their sexually transmitted disease clinics, enabling them to use the feedback to increase client satisfaction, improve program efficiency and provide culturally-appropriate services.
Kane County Health Department
Completed
The Kane County Health Department utilized QI tools to improve the efficiency of its community meeting process, strengthening the engagement and commitment of community partners.
Appleton Health Department
Completed
The local health department published the results of restaurant inspections on their website so that people could see them and make choices about where to eat. In addition, the public gained a better understanding of what environmental health staff of the department do to prevent food borne...
District Health Department #10
Completed
This 10-county District health department improved the processes of immunization clinic scheduling, preparation and follow-up and reduced the number of “no shows” , leading to greater efficiency and capacity. The improved process and staff training were then standardized across the 10 counties.
Cleveland County Health Department
Completed
The county health department improved their planning processes for community meetings so that community partners would more actively collaborate in a community health improvement process and together make a stronger impact on priority health issues.
Washington County Health Department
Completed
This local health department improved participation and contributions by their partners in the community to the Community Health Improvement Plan by 70%, leading to strengthened relationships with and more effective collaborative partnerships to take action to improve the community’s health.
Alabama Department of Public Health
Completed
The Alabama state health department trained local health department family planning clinic staff in QI. The QI tools provided helped staff analyze current procedures and identify service delivery bottlenecks and then design interventions resulting in increased capacity and a reduction in waiting...
Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department
Completed
An urban local health department found that 35% of mid-level staff did not know who to contact for questions about new department programs and services. This workforce development QI project led to development of a common resource packet that enabled staff to respond more quickly and effectively...
Cabarrus Health Alliance
Completed
In order to improve client satisfaction and increase the efficiency of WIC visits, this medium size local health department used QI to improve their Open Access appointment system. They were able to reduce the time for a complete WIC visit by 25% and increase participant satisfaction to 96%.
Houston Department of Health and Human Services
Completed
The Health Department improved the process for obtaining birth and death certificates so customers weren’t forced to miss time from work or take other extraordinary steps to obtain these vital documents in a timely fashion.
Macon County Public Health
Completed
Challenged by undesired delays for clinic appointments, high no-show rates, client dissatisfaction, and suboptimal productivity, Macon County Public used QI to implement an open access clinic appointment system that allowed them to schedule appointments within 72 hours for all clients and all...
North Carolina Center for Public Health Quality
Completed
The state health department developed a training program for public health staff at the state and local levels to apply continuous quality improvement in their delivery of public health services, in turn resulting in better health outcomes for the people of North Carolina.
Genesee County Health Department
Completed
Committed to minimizing the health and social impact of pandemic influenza in its jurisdiction, this health department applied continuous quality improvement (CQI) tools and methods to improve the accuracy, effectiveness, and timeliness of its risk communications plan and messages to staff and...
Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department
Completed
The health department was concerned about a falling rate of visits by homeless people to the federally funded Health Care for Homeless project despite an increase in the homeless population. They investigated the causes and made several changes including implementing a process for walk-in service...
City of Portland Public Health Division
Completed
This health department found the root cause of the high HIV clinic “no show” to be out of date patient contact information. They developed a simple and timely patient contact update process that dropped the “no show” rate dramatically in 8 weeks.
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Completed
Reducing childhood obesity is a priority for the Oklahoma State Health Department. Staff recognized that children returning for a second year in the afterschool CATCH Kids Club would need a new curriculum and activities to keep them engaged. The Department used QI to design new components and...
Central Michigan District Health Department
Completed
This six-county health district department used QI to achieve a 75% increase in response to satisfaction surveys by customers of their environmental health services.
Kittitas County Public Health Department
Completed
Following a Pertussis outbreak, a health department worked with families and providers to increase adolescence immunization rates using QI to identify barriers that previously had resulted in undervaccination. In addition, a clinic-specific and county immunization monitoring system was set up to...
Cumberland County Health Department
Completed
Cumberland County Health Department achieved dramatic improvements in the quality of services offered by their Adult Health Clinic through a Kaizen event. Prescription refill wait times decreased from as long as 6 weeks to less than 72 hours, and referrals to specialists, many of which had lengthy...
Mahoning County District Board of Health
Completed
By reducing the time to perform inspections of residential septic and well systems for real estate transactions, the Mahoning County District Board of Health made a positive economic impact in its community and improved customer service relations with local realtors.
Lower 8 of Southeast Kansas Regional Preparedness Group
Completed
Access to prenatal care contributes to successful birth outcomes. A Kansas health department found that patients had challenges completing the application process for the Medicaid Children’s Health Insurance Program. By conducting patient education and assistance with the application, the health...
Lakes Region Partnership for Public Health
Completed
The county has a high percentage of overweight and obese children. Pleasant Street School staff implemented activities related to nutrition education in a school setting. Student knowledge about fruits and vegetables increased, and the school received additional funds to foster healthy eating.
North Carolina Institute for Public Health
Completed
A quality improvement mini-collaborative in North Carolina focused on developing a workforce development plan to increase public health nurse retention. After doing root cause analysis, the team developed a nurse-mentoring program and measured results after six months.
Logan County Health Department
Completed
By using quality planning to improve the effectiveness of community meetings, this small rural county increased community engagement and participation from 40 to 66% in the county-wide community health assessment and improvement planning process.
Florence County Health Department
Completed
By giving women improved information on the prenatal care program and the WIC program, this collaborative increased entry into prenatal care and participation in WIC, thus promoting healthy birth outcomes in the community and synergy between the two programs.
Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD)
Completed
SRHD reduced the number of water recreation facilities with violations that required re-inspection, resulting in better efficiency and reduced risk of illness and injury among community members.
Skagit County Public Health Department
Completed
Using QI, Skagit County improved their implementation of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Kids Club Program as a strategy for addressing childhood obesity in their community, which resulted in a 71% increase in physical activity among the program participants.
Yadkin County Health Department
Completed
Yadkin-County Health department used QI tools and methods decrease the time for notifying clients of abnormal Pap smear results, enabling clients to make informed decisions about follow-up care.
Spokane Regional Health District
Completed
A local health department in Washington state used QI to increase the percent of department staff who engage in physical activity as part of a worksite wellness program, learning that variety and support are critical for wellness activities to succeed.
St. Clair County Health Department
Completed
Recognizing the power and strength of inclusive community-based collaboration, the health department, under the leadership of the St. Clair County Health Care Commission, used quality planning to enlist more than 60 local organizations to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce the unacceptably...
Tacoma–Pierce County Health Department
Completed
TPCHD sped its response time for solid waste complaints, resulting in greater protection of the public’s health, better customer service, and greater accountability to its community members.
Franklin County Public Health (FCPH)
Completed
Franklin County Public Health: This QI project sought to improve client satisfaction with Environmental Health programs, focusing for this project on the water quality partnership program. Understanding client satisfaction in programs that are fee-based, such as environmental health, can improve...
Spokane Regional Health District
Completed
Compliance with required school immunizations rose after completion of a review of school immunization records was coupled with better methods of contacting parents. As a result, both children and the wider community experienced less spread of diseases.
Washington State Department of Health; 101 Israel Road SE; Tumwater, WA 98501
Completed
Washington State Department of Health enhanced their ability to lower the risk of clients receiving substandard care in hospital settings. Using a Lean process, staff implemented a host of improvements to increase the rate of hospital inspections conducted within the state-mandated 18-month...
St. Croix County Department of Health and Human Services –Public Health
Completed
St. Croix County Public Health nurses were concerned that the time needed to complete required paperwork was taking them away from serving postpartum mothers and newborn babies. To put clients first, they conducted a quality improvement initiative that reduced the time for documentation by 37%....
Wood County Health Department
Completed
By improving processes in its WIC program, the Wood County Health Department has made WIC education more accessible to clients, increased client satisfaction, and freed up staff time to complete other work assignments.
Bethlehem Health Bureau
Completed
By improving its grant application process, the Bethlehem Health Bureau increased the success rate of funded grant applications and increased the amount of grant funding received. The improved process now enables the organization to better meet the needs of the community it serves.
Allegan County Health Department
Completed
The Allegan County Health Department used QI to increase of the percent of department programs that perform client satisfaction surveys from 33 to 81%. As a result valuable feedback from clients is enabling the department to provide services and programs that better meet the needs of its community.
Snohomish Health District (SHD)
Completed
The Snohomish County Health Dept used QI on its immunization process.. By analyzing causes of error, introducing a new and standardized work flow, and using job aids that help to verify client records and data, the immunization error rate was reduced by over 50%.
Clark County Health Department
Completed
Wisconsin’s Prenatal Care Coordination (PNCC) program has been shown to decrease low-birth weight among single women, increase family support and involvement of the father, decrease preeclampsia, and decrease smoking among pregnant women. Clark County health department used QI to achieve 100%...
Cleveland County Health Department
Completed
Even the implementation of evidence-based public health interventions poses challenges for most health departments. Using rapid-cycle tools and regular status monitoring, Cleveland County Health Department dramatically improved completion of the 5A’s smoking cessation service.
LCHD
Completed
In the long term, Licking County Health Department anticipates cost savings with respect to medical supplies. In the interim, they have successfully reorganized their supply process by creating a central supply storage location and implementing a streamlined supply ordering process without...
Toledo–Lucas County Health Department
Completed
Fast and effective investigations into foodborne illness outbreaks are an important part of a food safety program because they reduce the time that people are exposed to a pathogen. Toledo-Lucas County reduced the cycle time for an effective investigation and closure of foodborne outbreak cases...
South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control
Completed
Although located in an area with significant need for teen family planning services, a public health teen clinic in Spartanburg County had low rates of use. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control followed a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) approach and used QI tools to understand...
WCHD
Completed
Due to decreases in funding, the economic climate, and social determinants of risk behavior in Nevada, the Washoe County Health Department had to be ready to effectively manage any large Sexually Transmitted Disease outbreak with reduced numbers of Sexual Health Program staffing. Using QI processes...
Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale County Health Departments
Completed
The public health community has lagged in using digital communications to make its presence and services delivered known to the general public. Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale County Health Departments found that creating a better experience and better information for website visitors was better...
Connecticut Department of Public Health
Completed
The CT DPH innovatively improved its ability to collect and report sociodemographic information, so health disparities could be identified throughout the state and efforts could be taken to improve population health and better address health inequities.
Sullivan County Public Health Services
Completed
This mixed semi-urban and rural county had the lowest rate of kindergartners completely immunized in New York State (89%), with baseline data for the immunization rates among schools in the county ranging from 15.4% to 90%. The QI initiative aimed to improve the immunization rate for children...
ZMCHD
Completed
By engaging health department staff across all divisions in the process of developing proactive media messages based on local health needs and priorities, the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department was able to improve its provision of timely, needed public health information to the community.
Red Cliff Community Health Center
Completed
Because surveillance for communicable disease had been provided by the state, the Red Cliff Community health department had limited knowledge of communicable diseases in their community. They used quality improvement to bring communicable disease reporting, surveillance, control and prevention...
Madison County Health Department
Completed
Through several PDCA cycles, the Madison County Health Department was able to increase revenue from billable service fees in two program areas -- one by 13% and the other by 16%. The process improvements gradually will be applied to all direct service program areas, followed by other improvements...
Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Department
Completed
This northern Kentucky health department wanted to increase the percentage of properly licensed mobile food vendors to correct unsafe food handling and prevent foodborne illness related to mobile food vendors such as food trucks. With the large light-industry and numerous warehouses located...
Osceola County Health Department
Completed
A systematic 9- step approach to manage access to prenatal care was the key to improving access to medical exams within the first 2 weeks of a positive pregnancy test. This systematic approach removed previous barriers that caused a delay in the process from pregnancy testing to initial medical...
Sedgwick County Health Department
Completed
The Sedgwick County Health Department improved the quality of the collaborative process related to communication, empowerment, and recruitment of diverse people and organizations so that individuals and organizations critical to the implementation and success of its community's health...
FCPH
Completed
In Fillmore County Public Health department, the time from notification to investigation of health problems and environmental health hazards (animal bites, infectious diseases, and nuisances) took longer than desired. Data was collected to understand the current state; investigations ranged from...
DPH, DMHC
Completed
Denver Health used rapid cycle improvement to implement a brief tobacco cessation intervention (2As &R) in a high risk urban family planning and sexual health clinic. The intervention was enhanced by modifications to the electronic medical record system. They plan to spread this intervention...
Barron County Department of Health and Human Services
Completed
A local health department noted a high rate of early post-partum unintended pregnancies among women in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, and used QI to identify three interventions to reduce the rate.
KCPHD
Completed
Kittitas County Health Department improved their process for Alcohol Drug Dependency Service (ADDS) clients to follow through with Hepatitis C testing so that treatment would be received earlier and the spread of the disease reduced.
Salt Lake County Health Department
Completed
Due to a variety of barriers, including inefficient flow of clients during WIC visits, eligible families were not engaging with WIC services. The clinics at this health department improved their processes and exceeded their initial goals, allowing many more families to be able to eat well and be...
WCHD
Completed
Local health departments in Washington state monitor the quality of the Vaccine for Children program to ensure vaccines administered by the private sector maintain high quality and immunization rates improve. To eliminate redundancies, decrease inconsistencies between staff and improve clarity of...
Washington State DOH
Completed
The Washington state health department conducted a Kaizen event to streamline the application process for HIV positive Washington state residents with low incomes to receive coverage. Multiple improvements were made, several target goals were exceeded, resulting in quicker access to life-saving...
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
Completed
To improve the reach of chronic disease management in Nebraska, an evidence-based chronic disease self-management program, Living Well, was implemented using awareness and communication techniques in Lancaster and Buffalo counties to improve participants' ability to manage their health...
KCHD
Completed
Local health departments play a critical role in responding to public health emergencies and often test their ability to respond during exercises or drills. One local health department in Illinois used the PDCA cycle to improve its ability to assemble staff in a complete and timely manner during...
Wicomico County Health Department
Completed
Wicomico County had a salmonella infection rate twice as high as the state average. Their QI project found that by focusing on reducing critical violations in retail food service facilities through increasing its outreach and education services to those facilities, the Wicomico County Health...
Green Lake County Department of Health and Human Services
Completed
A local health department in rural Wisconsin was missing opportunities to immunize a significant number of teenagers who would potentially benefit from mandated or optional vaccines. They implemented an improvement project to standardize the process and educate staff in order to decrease missed...
SCPHS
Completed
It has been shown that home visiting and other supportive services provided during pregnancy improve perinatal outcomes. Sullivan County Public Health Services used QI to improve its internal processes for reaching women with high-risk pregnancies, so more mothers and babies can have healthy...
RiverStone Health
Completed
WIC enrollment is well below the eligible population in Yellowstone, MT, and a substantial number of those enrolled do not regularly pick up their food coupons, resulting in automatic disenrollment and loss of benefits. Utilizing PDCA, RiverStone Health addressed the root causes of the drop off in...
DPH
Completed
Using Kaizen Rapid Improvement Event, Denver Public Health not only made the vaccine administrative process more efficient, but helped to ensure the appropriate vaccine and fund source was applied, thereby preserving scarce privately funded vaccines.
HCHD
Completed
The Harford County Health Department used QI to create a more welcoming environment for limited English proficiency populations by focused staff education, training, and standardization of processes, increasing the use translation services three fold.
CCHD
Completed
Pregnant women face economic barriers to receipt of pertussis vaccines, increasing risks for infant transmission of the disease. Using PDSA and rapid cycle improvement, the health department partnered with a prenatal care provider to increase Tdap coverage from 1% to 49% of pregnant women whose...
Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health
Completed
Taking the whoop out of a Pertussis outbreak and enhancing a community's pertussis mitigation effort by using improved early identification and isolation outcomes methods to decrease the number of days between onset and the report of disease.
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Division of Public Health
Completed
In order to simplify and standardize its formal contracts (numbering over 200) with the seven local health districts in Idaho, which led to great frustration and wasted time by both local and state staff in processing multiple different forms for contracts, the Idaho Division of Public Health used...
MMS CHS
Completed
This QI project used many QI tools to identify and design improvement actions to increase the redemption of food vouchers by WIC clients. While this project did not achieve the improvement target, , the development and application of tools could be helpful to other community health programs seeking...
Clark County Health Department
Completed
Clark County Health Department increased the percent of eligible families that are referred to Kentucky’s home visitation program for new and expectant parents from 24% to 56%. Evidence indicates that increased participation in this program will positively impact preterm birth rates, low and very...
CDHD
Completed
A local health department increased early enrollment of pregnant women in smoking cessation programs to reduce risks of pregnancy complications, premature delivery, and their infants being low-birth weight, stillborn, or dying from SIDS.
MDCH
Completed
This Michigan Department of Community Health QI project sought to increase the number of grants reaching priority populations in response to requests for proposals (RFP) for tobacco control. The team used a survey to gather data on the biggest barriers to applying for grants that would reach the...
Wisconsin Division of Public Health
Completed
Increasing participation in public health programs is a goal of many agencies. In this QI project, the Kenosha County Division of Health sought to expand and enhance its prenatal care coordination (PNCC) and reproductive health services. QI resulted in changes in the process with the addition of a...
DOH-Seminole
Completed
The Specialty Care clinic at the Florida Department of Health in Seminole County sought to notify clients more quickly of the results from their tests at the sexually transmitted disease clinic. A QI project led to implementation of a confidential no-reply text messaging system which resulted in...
Carroll County General Health District
Completed
In an effort to improve customer satisfaction, Carroll County General Health District embarked upon a QI project to decrease waiting time in the reproductive health clinic. Their aim for a 10% reduction in waiting time was nearly achieved by taking a novel approach to addressing the identified...
FCP Health & Wellness Center Community Health Department
Completed
The tribal health department used QI to increase the number of parents using car child seats correctly from 30 to 65% using new dramatic visual presentations and enhanced car safety seat installation demonstrations. This will save children’s lives and reduce auto related injuries.
WCHD
Completed
Tuberculosis is difficult to eradicate, it can have devastating health impacts, and one active TB case can result in budget-breaking expenses for small-to-medium local health jurisdictions. A local health department in Washington state implemented a quality planning and quality improvement project...
KCHD
Completed
Using QI Tools and PDSA leads to significant improvement in the standardization of Final Inspection Reports.
Mississippi State Department of Health
Completed
The Prentiss County Health Department and Mississippi State Department of Health partnered on a project to reduce wait time in their WIC clinics, reassign staff as needed on higher traffic days, and provide customer service training to frontline staff to assure greater satisfaction and...
BPHC
Completed
This big city health department used QI to improve their intake processes and obtained dramatic results in connecting the highest risk people with substance use disorders to existing city services, which in turn results in improved outcomes for individuals who are homeless, have co-occurring health...
MCDPH
Completed
A large county health department used effective data gathering, analysis, and interpretation with PDSA to enable increased WIC caseloads that in turn decreased the number of negative health outcomes among low-income mothers and their families who had not been receiving WIC benefits.
Jefferson County Public Health Service
Completed
Responding to case reports of Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne infection in North America represented a very large time burden for a local health department in northwest New York state. The department used QI tools to decrease the number of steps and amount of time to respond to case...
MMDHD
Completed
Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program serves low-income families and pregnant women to improve birth outcomes. A local health district in that state used the PDSA cycle to reduce office-related work and increase time for direct client services in order to make the program more efficient and...
Southeast Health District
Completed
Vaccinating children is imperative in the prevention and spread of life-threatening communicable diseases. A rural regional health district conducted an improvement project using PDSA at three public health clinic sites to increase immunization rates among 19–35-month-old children seen at their...
Utah Department of Health (UDOH)
Completed
This state health department quality improvement (QI) effort sought to improve customer satisfaction and increase use of the Utah state laboratory. The intervention tested was the development of a website for use by local health department (LHD) staff, who achieved both of the QI project goals. In...
PHS
Completed
Inadequate documentation of policies and procedures is not just a hassle; it can also create confusion and redundancies that bog down staff’s ability to provide effective public health services and programs to the community. A small, rural local health department used quality improvement methods...
ELVPHD
Completed
Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department improved the return rate of colon cancer screening kits by expanding the work process to include personal phone contact. The process now includes 3 phone attempts, within 3 weeks, to reach the participant. If still unable to reach the participant, the...
OCHD
Completed
Enforcement of food safety regulations plays a significant role in preventing food borne illness outbreaks. A local health department used the Lean method to increase efficiencies, standardize the process and reduce staff time and other costs for the administrative hearing process that enforces...
Oregon Health Authority, Public Health Division
Completed
Staff from Oregon MothersCare conducted a QI project to improve their processes for prenatal care, which led to decreased errors in tracking and faster flow through the system so that pregnant women received services in a more timely manner. Access to prenatal care was also improved.
ECDHD
Completed
An example of bridging health and health care in rural Nebraska: In order to improve critical health outcomes of “hard to reach” patients with diabetes and high blood pressure, a local health department and a community health center partnered to use the PDSA model and best practices to provide...
ADHS
Completed
Home visiting programs are an important intervention to improve the health of women and children, but they are generally done in programmatic silos. A state health department used QI to improve the process and systematically address both chronic disease and environmental health risk factors...
MDH
Completed
Effective tobacco control and prevention outreach is vital to decreasing tobacco use, secondhand smoke exposure, and tobacco-related disease rates. In addition, the loss of significant resources and funding for tobacco control and prevention have made it all the more important to have efficient...
Whatcom County Health Department (WCHD)
Completed
A local health department in Washington was not able to serve all of the WIC-eligible clients in its jurisdiction. Process mapping led to three aims for increasing efficiency to make time for new clients: (1) Decreasing the average percentage of no-show appointments; (2) Increasing the WIC...
MCWC
Completed
The local health department noted waning engagement of the coalition working to implement the collaborative 2011 community action plan. Through a PDSA approach they were able to re-energize the coalition by collectively reassessing the community action plan, improving its clarity, re-developing...
Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment
Completed
Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment improved the process of renewing annual hazardous waste licenses to over 500 hazardous waste generators. Approximately 75% of renewals contained one or more defects which slows the process, consumes unnecessary time by the inspectors...
Maryland DHMH
Completed
The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene partnered with its local health departments and WIC clinics to increase the number of WIC clients referred to and receiving appropriate services to meet their needs.
SLCHD
Completed
This initiative describes how quality leaders at the Salt Lake County Health Department challenged the status quo to transform organizational quality culture. Members of the SLCHD Quality Council identified a need to increase the health department's emphasis on quality after a review and...
Deschutes County Health Services
Completed
WIC coupons for use at famer’s markets are a precious resource for improving nutrition and reducing food hunger in low-income families, as well as supporting local farmers. Deschutes County Health Department noted a decreasing trend of redemption, which meant a literal wasting of coupons that other...
TCHD
Completed
Kaizen events lend themselves to rapid improvements in routine health department processes. Tazewell County Health Department utilized Kaizen tools to full advantage--reducing administrative time related to food establishment inspections dramatically, exceeding the project aim. In the first month...
TRDHD
Completed
By streamlining their internal computer drive, creating an internal framework for its use/upkeep, and training staff on the efficient and effective use of the computer drive, the Three Rivers District Health Department has increased staff productivity.
WCPH
Completed
Washington County (OR) conducted a Kaizen Event to improve the volume of childcare facilities that used the LHD for their state required inspections. The agency implemented several new policies and protocols to standardize the entire inspection process. As a result, they anticipate a reduction in...
DOH-Seminole
Completed
DOH-Seminole County realized savings of $7764 for goods and services from price negotiations during the first quarter following a Kaizen event – almost double the goal set by the QI team. Other improvements in the requisition process included a 38% decrease in process time, in addition to...
DeKalb County Board of Health
Completed
The DeKalb County Board of Health used a kaizen event to decrease the labor time and increase the accuracy of filing death certificate registrations. Improving the process resulted in labor savings, better cash flow and improved performance for customers in providing accurate and timely filing. The...
El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency
Completed
El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency used a Kaizen event to improve customer satisfaction and reduce labor time in the County “request for information” process. The results of the project mean better and faster information to the incoming caller, so they can make more informed...
Oregon Health Authority (OHA)–Public Health Division
Completed
Team uses creativity to positively engage staff which enabled measurable improvements to be made to a critical agency process directly impacting the public. After the event, processing time was reduced substantially to a rolling average of 12.5 business days from the previous average of 30 business...
CDPH
Completed
Untreated chlamydia (CT) and gonorrhea (GC) can lead to serious health problems in men and women. In order to effectively track and treat these two sexually transmitted infections, CDC guidelines require that low-priority CT and GC reports be processed by health departments within 30 days of...
CCPHD
Completed
Clackamas County, Oregon conducted a comprehensive Kaizen project to design and implement a customer feedback system for the entire public health division. The process and tools used for the project are well described and easy to adapt by other health departments. While Clackamas has not yet...
JCDHE
Completed
Johnson County Department of Health and Environment used a kaizen event to improve the supply ordering process cycle time and increased the order placement and delivery accuracy for all programs in the department. The results included decrease in cycle time – total ordering process time per order...
FCHD
Completed
Early intervention has been shown to positively impact outcomes across developmental domains. The Fond du Lac County Health Department increased the number of children being screened for developmental delays from 5 to 9 per month, allowing more children to be appropriately connected with services...
Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment
Completed
Using quality improvement to raise community awareness of the importance of annual private well water testing increased the number of tests performed, assuring a safe water supply for county residents all done without increasing processing costs!
HCHD
Completed
This medium-sized health department tackled the unacceptable wait time in its Primary Care Clinics. The wait time averaged 1.5 hours for new patients and 30–45 minutes for returning patients. The QI team members observed how people are processed through the stations and identified improvement...
Dare County Health and Human Services
Completed
A local health department in North Carolina used PDSA cycles and lean/kaizen approaches to improve their clinic client and community satisfaction survey tools and data collection process. This provided a system-wide framework to enable the organization to better understand their customers’ needs,...
NCHD
Completed
Client satisfaction data are a critical component of an agency’s QI plan but can be difficult to obtain. Through a 4-day Kaizen event, Northampton County Health Department (NCHD) in North Carolina streamlined and simplified its client satisfaction survey process, resulting in a 100% increase in the...
North Carolina Division of Public Health
Completed
NC Division of Public Health streamlined data collection and improved the quality of reportable data in their Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program resulting in greater use of these data to improve services to children and families.
Madison County Health Department (MCHD)
Completed
A knowledgeable and involved team, subject matter expertise, and the Kaizen improvement method helped the Madison County Health Department reduce their client no show rates in the Family Planning Clinic. Root cause analysis led the team to create standardized process procedures, client scheduling...
Cabarrus Health Alliance
Completed
Cabarrus Health Alliance and partners used quality improvement to streamline their processes for referrals for pregnancy care management to improve overall handoffs and cycle times, resulting in more timely and effective referrals for care management to ensure healthier mothers and babies.
NC DPH
In Progress
Review of timely and accurate evaluation data is crucial for health departments to provide effective interventions to improve the health of their communities. The Women’s Health branch of a state health department used several QI methods and tools—including a Kaizen event, multiple PDSA cycles and...
NCHD 5-2
Completed
This health department was able to achieve a 51% improvement in HIV testing rates, which can result in identifying more people with HIV and better, more immediate treatment. In order to reduce redundancy, the QI project team eliminated one of the demographic forms that had been required, saving...
TCHD
Completed
Reducing adolescent tobacco use is a priority for Tooele County Health Department (TCHD) in Utah. Staff recognized the need to improve tobacco compliance check pass rates and identified that clerks who possess a valid permit were less likely to sell tobacco products to minors. TCHD used quality...
WCHD
In Progress
The Whatcom County Health department found that language and cultural barriers were contributing to higher numbers of critical Food Code violations for the almost 18% of non-English and ESL food service operators in Level 3 establishments in the County. The department considered the food service...
KCHD
Completed
Staff are Customers too! How involving all staff in the identification of barriers to completing department offered QI Training resulted in greater acceptance of, participation in, and an increase in the number of staff completing six required training modules.
KCHD
Completed
Knox County Health Dept. demonstrates how use of partner developed communication standards can improve communication satisfaction among groups participating in a coalition.
Florida Department of Health in Seminole County
Completed
Client complaints and staff dissatisfaction with prenatal clinic wait times led the Seminole County DOH to use QI to decrease their client visit times. Focusing on modifying the prenatal scheduling matrix, eliminating duplicate charts, and decreasing the physical distance traveled between check-...
Missoula City-County Health Department
Completed
The number of breastfeeding women who have access to a certified lactation counselor soared when Missoula City-County Health Department staff used QI to improve their internal processes.
Marion County Health Department
Completed
When a rabies susceptible animal has bitten a human, it is imperative that health departments responsible for the investigation and quarantine of these animals respond a timely manner. A local health department in Oregon used a PDSA approach to reduce the time to process rabies bites reports by 29...
Marion Public Health
Completed
The time participants spend waiting for appointments at the WIC clinic can lead to dissatisfaction with the WIC program and could negate efforts to retain program participants. The Marion Public Health WIC team used a fishbone diagram to determine that the primary root cause of long wait times in...
DCHS
Completed
Deschutes County Health Services (DCHS) in Central Oregon is now able to provide more efficient preventive strategies for the county through creating and implementing an online process for reporting foodborne illness, restaurant complaints, hotel and motel complaints, pool and spa complaints, and...
Rhode Island Department of Health
In Progress
The Rhode Island Department of Health improved the timeliness of data entry for early intervention (EI) services which enhanced appropriate and prompt preventive health services and follow-up care. Delayed entry of Individual Family Service Plans (IFSPs) by outside agencies into the KIDSNET system...
OCHD
Completed
Taking the bite out of labor intensive reporting and delays though community collaboration and use of QI tools and methods to increase the number of animal bite reports submitted to the health department in a timely fashion.
Vermont Department of Health
Completed
The health department improved the process for tracking data requests from internal and external partners. The interventions made the staff more aware of the tracking process and offered education on the use of the Access database. The results included greater use and an increased number of staff...
Santa Clara County Public Health Department
Completed
Rapid response to new Salmonella cases is critical to decreasing the spread of disease and reducing the likelihood of an outbreak. The Santa Clara County Public Health Department in California used the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC)/Six Sigma approach to identify the root causes...
HEALTH
Completed
How might your health department track the trajectory and evolution of its QI and performance management system? Learn how Rhode Island Department of Health developed a survey tool to assess progress and measure QI uptake.
HCHD
Completed
Henry County Health Department’s (HCHD’s) strategic plan included addressing employee turnover and job dissatisfaction. Employee turnover and job satisfaction are related to how confident an employee feels when starting a new position, which links back to the effectiveness of the orientation...
Gallatin City-County Health Department
Completed
Communicable disease (CD) follow-up: Staff let their fingers do the walking using social media to significantly improve the timeliness and effectiveness of client contact and case completion procedures for CD clients.
MDH
Completed
The Kaizen event approach was selected to involve the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Public Health Laboratory (PHL) team in reducing the percentage of influenza tests taking longer than 6 days to verify and eliminate testing errors. Within 4 months, errors were eliminated and test time length...
Minnesota Department of Health
Completed
The Minnesota Department of Health Birth Defects Monitoring and Analysis Program used a Kaizen event to streamline the process for identifying children with birth defects, decrease the median time from 49 to 37 days, and decrease the maximum time by 53%. Families may now be linked faster to...
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
In Progress
Recognizing the critical role of timely and accurate death data for local health departments (LHDs) to perform surveillance and make informed decisions, the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services used quality improvement to decrease the lag in posting identifiable death data from...
SCDPH
Completed
Saginaw County Department of Public Health (SCDPH) conducts strategic planning every 2 years. After noting that not all staff were engaged, the four previous strategic planning groups conducted a PDSA cycle on the strategic planning process. As a result, staff are now more committed to setting and...
City of St. Louis Department of Health
Completed
In becoming ready for PHAB accreditation, the City of St. Louis Department of Health’s performance management team used quality planning to create, test, and install a performance management system. The process included a fishbone diagram of the barriers to a culture of quality, an affinity diagram...
Stratford Health Department
Completed
The Stratford Health Department’s aim was to ensure that at least 75% of faith-based organizations (FBOs) were licensed, so they could provide food during public events throughout the year and minimize the risk of food-borne illness. While working through their QI planning project, staff fixed a...
Clackamas County Public Health Division
Completed
Clackamas County Public Health Division has improved its onboarding processes to ensure that occupational health requirements are met within 30 days after hiring new employees and annually thereafter to ensure that risk is low and that employees and clients are safe and healthy.
Clackamas County Public Health Division
Completed
This medium-size local health department improved and standardized the effectiveness of environmental health (EH) plan reviews for new restaurant establishments. The QI team used Kaizen and Lean Six Sigma methods and tools to successfully reduce the EH plan review approval time frame from 30 days...
OCHD
Completed
Budget literacy of health department staff is a key attribute necessary before decentralizing financial management and program oversight. After an assessment that determined that staff had knowledge gaps, an educational intervention was initiated to increase their financial management competency....
Tulare County PHN and Tulare County TB control office
Completed
Working together, the Tulare County Public Health Department’s tuberculosis (TB) team and nurses increased the on-time completion rates from 80% to 100% for referrals of suspected TB cases. The QI project resulted in a newly defined and consistent work process that improved communications and team...
Yellowstone City-County Health Department (doing business as RiverStone Health)
In Progress
Health Alert Network (HAN) messages provide vital public health information to the community’s health care providers, schools, churches, day care centers, and so on. The RiverStone Health team used a 5-day Kaizen event to improve the HAN process, create job keys, involve more staff, and decrease...
Missoula City-County Health Department
Completed
Missoula City-County Health Department used quality improvement to improve the functionality and satisfaction of its infectious disease after hours response team members, thus ensuring that emerging infectious disease issues in the community would be managed appropriately.
MDH
Completed
For health department services that have a major impact on citizens, ensuring high client satisfaction is important to the public’s understanding and support for these services. Three state health departments teamed together to improve the timeliness of death data, using the Kaizen method for...
Houston Health Department
In Progress
Mobile food units (MFUs) in Houston, Texas, now experience a faster, more efficient inspection process thanks to a Kaizen event held by Houston Health Department. The average time to complete the physical inspection and administrative paperwork has decreased from 3 hours to 30 minutes. Moreover,...
CPH
In Progress
Columbus Public Health (CPH), a local health department in Ohio, was bogged down by a slow, costly process to administer vaccines to children at schools. By using PDSA and a Kaizen event approach, CPH increased the timeliness and efficiency to document the immunization services and decreased its...
FCHD
Completed
Franklin County Health Department (FCHD), a small local health department (LHD) in Kentucky, needed to improve the completion and timeliness of restaurant inspections to meet regulatory requirements. By using the Kaizen process and involving leaders from the LHD, the QI project team identified root...
KCHD
Completed
Developing effective public health communications via social media is very much a work in progress. One critical success factor is the ability to converse with a broader audience and to create messages that allow interaction between the messenger and the audience. During the test phase of Kane...
LPHI
In Progress
The Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), a nonprofit organization dependent on grant funding, engaged in a Kaizen process to decrease the amount of time it takes to prepare a grant proposal. After a 5-day Kaizen event, a new process and job aid were developed, and labor time for proposal...
HCHD
Completed
Harford County Health Department (HCHD) in Maryland increased the percentage of morbidity reports for chlamydia submitted by county health care providers, thus facilitating improved trend monitoring, ensuring proper treatment, and ultimately helping to reduce the spread of disease.
DCHS
Completed
Staff at Deschutes County Health Services (DCHS) recognized that they had so many different programs in operation that it was difficult for staff to make all the appropriate referrals for clients. They did a QI project, and their improvement hypothesis targeted three areas: knowledge, workflow, and...
TCPH
Completed
The Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) Tuberculosis (TB) Division in Texas improved completion rates for latent TB infection (LTBI) treatment focusing on three targeted populations: homeless shelter residents, refugees, and people exposed to TB cases. Quality improvement of the process and a new...
CHA
In Progress
By using Kaizen, Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA) in North Carolina reduced food establishment violations by 22% and further protected residents from foodborne illness.
CGCDPH
In Progress
Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health (CGCDPH) worked to improve immunization rates for both types of pneumococcal vaccine recommended for seniors. Through a multifaceted approach that emphasized increased awareness of the vaccine, CGCDPH raised the rate of immunizations with the newest...
CG Health
Completed
Cerro Gordo Health Department decreased fear levels of bed bug exposure among field staff. The implementation of a risk reduction plan minimized staff discomfort and facilitated a more effective intervention to bed bug exposure in the community.
DOH-Seminole
Completed
The Florida Department of Health in Seminole County (DOH-Seminole) improved the timeliness of filing Client Service Records (CSRs), positively affecting customer service and access to care.
Lake County Health Department
Completed
By using the Six Sigma DMAIC method, Lake County Health Department streamlined their billing process for the Dental Program. This change resulted in a significant decrease in lost revenue, from an average of $5,354 per quarter down to an average of $2,076. The quarterly losses decreased steadily...
KHI
Completed
Kansas Health Institute (KHI) strengthened their ability to share information with clients by increasing the efficiency of its publication process and reducing staff stress associated with it.
OCHD
Completed
Oneida County Health Department’s (OCHD’s) QI team increased QI project submissions from staff, thus strengthening ongoing performance improvement in the agency.
Missoula City-County Health Department
Completed
Missoula City-County Health Department in Montana drastically increased its reach to clients who are eligible for its Health Services programs by improving program referral processes for existing clients. As a result, the health department can much better serve eligible women, infants, and children.
CCHD
Completed
Cecil County Health Department (CCHD) redesigned the onboarding process for new staff. As a result, most new staff reported that they understand their role at CCHD and found the onboarding process to be informative and useful. Onboarding education can improve staff members’ ability to meet...
DCHS
Completed
Customer satisfaction is key to any health department, and ensuring new employees’ satisfaction is no exception to this tenet. Deschutes County Health Services (DCHS) achieved tremendous success in orienting and onboarding these important “internal” customers through a comprehensive process that is...
Boston Public Health Commission
Completed
By improving the perceived value of staff meetings, the Boston Public Health Commission can be more effective in its role to advance population health.
Completed
Through a series of PDSA cycles, a division of the Boston Public Health Commission increased staff knowledge of ongoing program updates from 69% to 86% (a 25% increase).
Washington County PHE
Completed
Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment led a multi-sector quality improvement project and increased the recycling rate at a county park. Expansion of this model to all county parks will further protect the environment and contribute to Minnesota's statewide goal of a 75...
DCHS
Completed
Deschutes County Health Services (DCHS) streamlined the referral process for its Nurse Family Support Services(NFSS) and Oregon MothersCare (OMC) programs. Staff satisfaction with the process has improved and program clients are now more efficiently being served.
KCHD
Completed
Kane County Health Department (KCHD) in Illinois increased staff knowledge of the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), which improved timely response to emergencies and protection of county residents.
KCHD
Completed
Kendall County Health Department implemented successive PDSA cycles to better protect their population from West Nile Virus. The QI activities eventually led to a nearly 200% increase in the number of mosquito tests performed. Moreover, the implementation of a GIS management system has led to...
BCPHD
Completed
Butte County Public Health Department (BCPHD) in California used QI to expedite the annual medical review (AMR) process for eligibility into the California Children's Services (CCS) program. More children and their families now have improved access to these specialty health care services.
Completed
Lake Cumberland District Health Department (LCDHD) in Kentucky receives grant funding for several program activities, and staff realized that it was not unusual for different divisions to apply for the same grant. A QI committee used QI tools to address this issue. New policies and procedures have...
Boston Public Health Commission
Completed
The Boston Public Health Commission worked across departmental areas to improve the invoice payment process for their vendors. Timely payment contributes to improved relationships with these partners to collectively meet the community's health needs.
TCPH
Completed
Tarrant County Public Health’s (TCPH’s) North Texas Regional Laboratory (NTRL) decreased the cost of a specific HIV test by 40% by testing and adopting an alternative control test method. NTRL has received level funding for a few years while laboratory expenses have continued to grow. Achieving...
Connecticut DPH
Completed
The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) significantly reduced the number of steps needed to place student interns. By improving access to job descriptions and applications for preceptors and prospective interns, staff could more easily increase capacity to meet the community's health...
SCHD
Completed
Charting errors increased in Scott County Health Department's (SCHD's) STD clinic when a new electronic database was introduced. Anticipating the transition to the new database, the STD team implemented a QI effort to identify and correct problems with the charting process before they...
MCDPH
Completed
Maricopa County Department of Health (MCDPH) used QI methods to achieve a 90% decrease in callers to the health department who selected the "zero-out" option (transfer of call to a live operator), thereby freeing staff time to focus on other projects and ensuring that more callers quickly...
Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Completed
Using a PDCA approach, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) achieved a more efficient process for onboarding new employees. The amount of paper used went from 136 pages to 16 pages, an 88% reduction. The mean monthly staff time dedicated to the onboarding process dropped from 653...
DOH-Manatee
Completed
Implementing an improved process to collect customer feedback resulted in a staggering increase in customer satisfaction survey responses, from an average of 12 per month to more than 1,000 per month. The feedback will greatly enhance Manatee County Health Department’s (DOH-Manatee’s) performance...
DCHS
Completed
Deschutes County Health Services (DCHS) in Oregon improved its process to increase clinic show rates and caseload for clients of the WIC program. This improvement optimized staff time and ensures access to care and benefits for these needed services in the community.
TCHD
Completed
Tazewell County Health Department (TCHD) followed a Kaizen QI process to decrease the time for completing the deposit and receipt process for fee revenue. The number of days from receipt to post decreased from 30 to 5, an 83% reduction. Additional improved outcomes resulted from the Kaizen process.
LCPH
Completed
Lorain County Public Health (LCPH) used QI to improve the efficiency of its prenatal/newborn home visiting performance management system, with the result of freeing time that nurses could devote to providing the service, while also improving the quality and utility of the information provided.
CGCDPH
Completed
The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health (CGCDPH) used PDSA to improve its process for applying for grants and involving all staff in understanding the process.
CGCDPH
Completed
The number of flu vaccines provided by Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health (CGCDPH) has risen greatly, with many flu vaccination sites around the rural county. As the number of vaccines rose, the ability to enter the vaccines into the state immunization registry fell, and 57% of flu...
MCHD
Completed
Using a QI process, the Mercer County Health Department significantly increased the number of survey responses from its customers. This feedback is used to help identify areas for improvement and thus is an important part of the health department's strategy to apply QI to its operations.
MCDPH
Completed
The Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education) team used rapid-cycle PDSA to make the school lunch “plate waste” process more efficient and more accurate and updated it to cause the least disruption to the students and staff.
Wyoming Department of Health, Public Health Division
In Progress
The Wyoming Department of Health discovered a low rate of screening of Ryan White clients (RWCs) for STDs and hepatitis. Staff did a series of rapid PDSAs to improve the rate of screening and detection, and they are continuing to test further modifications to obtain even better results.
Deschutes County Health Services (DCHS)
In Progress
Three counties in central Oregon, Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson, were faced with rates of only 60%–70% of 2-year-old children having received all recommended vaccinations. The counties used QI methods; elected to implement an evidence-based process, AFIX (Assessment, Feedback, Incentives,...
Arizona Department of Health Services
Completed
A state health department used LEAN tools to improve customer service by streamlining the process for reviewing licensure applications for residential facilities, reducing the average time from 50 to 17 calendar days.
Lincoln County Health Department
Completed
Rural Wisconsin county improves the environmental health process for billing for water sampling, leading to more timely payment, less staff time, a standardized process, and a real time tracking process.
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