BOH QI Initiative for Board of Health meetings

Wed, 04/22/2015 - 14:05 -- sdorgan

Has anyone specifically engaged their Board of Health in a QI Initiative?  Our board has identified some dissatisfaction with the way they receive their materials before the board meeting, the length of the board meeting and a few other issues.  These might be a possible QI Intiative for the BOH itself.  Anyone with experience?

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Submitted by rpope on

I would not call what we did a QI initiative, but we did address similiar issues with our BOH. We now utilize BoardBook which has been great for getting our BOH the necessary meeting materials beforehand (would highly recommend looking into this software). That seemed to address alot of our communication issues and reduced waste (staff time & paper documents), and we had other additional benefits. I am by no means trying to get you to purchase a product, however we did find it very beneficial in our situation. 

Ross Pope, Mid-Michigan District Health Department

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Submitted by sdorgan on

Ross,

Thank you.  We will look at the BoardBook resource.  I do not know this resource.

Selby

 

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Selby Dorgan

Submitted by Kdyer on

Our board members each have an I-pad and our board materials are created and sent to each member electronically as a PDF file.  I think your idea to engage your Board is a good idea.  Not only would it likely produce improvements, it is a good way to educate your board members on QI initiatives within your agency. 

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Submitted by agoon on

I agree with Kdyer that this would be an awesome way to educate your BOH on QI! 

My Board started working on this issue about 2 1/2 - 3 years ago. They started by:

1) Deciding to each purchase some type of electronic device (laptop or tablet) to use at Board meetings.

2) The Board packet is sent as 2 PDF documents- 1 containing the agenda and the other containing everything else (minutes, action items, contracts, etc.). We've been using Dropbox, since everything is a public document anyways. I send a link to Board members per the deadlines established in their bylaws. (I had not heard of BoardBook either, so I'm going to check that out. The Hospital Board I serve on has a secure Board portal on the hospital's network for this purpose.)

3) With the approval of our legal counsel, we're now preparing to use consent agendas as part of how we conduct business. (This will significantly shorten the meeting and allow greater discussion of more strategic issues.) I am preparing a SOP that outlines what will be handled via consent agenda (and how). I'm also preparing a resolution that clearly defines the Board's delegation of authority to the Health Commissioner and Leadership Team. These will constitute most of the items on the consent agenda.  Several other LHDs in NW Ohio are also interested in doing this, so we're working to schedule a training session in late May or June. Contact me directly for more specifics at agoon@henrycohd.org or (419) 591-3023.

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Anne Goon, MS, RD, LD
Health Commissioner
Marietta/Belpre City Health Department

Submitted by kwasowski on

The Health Commissioner, Prosecutor and Board President all receive hard copies of the full Board packet.  All other members and Health Dept. directors receive a bookmarked pdf document with the agenda and all attachments.  We pass every measure by resolution which adds significantly to the size of the packet, so the idea of a consent agenda is very intriguing to me.  During the Board meeting we project the packet contents on a screen for the reference of all in attendence, including the public.

Personnel actions, including copies of performance reviews, are scanned and sent electronically to Board members only under separate cover. 

 

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Submitted by shawn.ray on

We have not done a QI with Board either.  We did just revamp the Board's Bylaw's last year to allow for use of a Consent Agenda that we call the "Health Commissioners Docket".

I am not familar with the BoardBook software but will be exploring.  I know one of our local bank board's use a very simular product through a very high secure site.  I also know one large state ag association that has a 14 person board, they bought each member an IPAD and use something like BoardBook also. Good luck and thanks for asking the question because I have learned from the other responses also. 

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Shawn E Ray, RS, MPH
Health Commissioner

4Sloan's picture
Submitted by 4Sloan on

A few years back Spokane Health District in Washington state did a pretty amazing QI with their board. They used a governance survey to obtain input from board members and then addressed key areas with an improvement action plan. Then, they applied evaluation tools to measure improvement. If you'd like a copy of the survey please let me know. I work in Whatcom County and attended a Joint Conference on Health presentation on this topic presented by a colleague.

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Grace Gorenflo's picture
Submitted by Grace Gorenflo on

I'm glad to hear from 4Sloan that there is a good example to be had in Spokane (SHD).  This sounds like an excellent way to demonstrate the value of QI.  Consistent with what it sounds like SHD did, you could engage in a PDSA cycle:  start by having the board specifically identify what they would consider to be improvements to their board meetings (e.g., how would they like to receive their materials? what is an acceptable length of time of board meetings? etc.) and establish baseline data for these objectives. Identify the improvements you will test, test the improvements, collect the data, analyze the degree to which you have met your objectives, and then adapt/adopt/abandon the improvements accordingly.  You may consider using a very brief survey to establish a baseline, and then do a quick survey after each meeting for some qualitative data --  e.g., "Was the amount of information to review prior to the meeting reasonable?" and "Did the information adequately prepare you for a productive meeting?"  Good luck with this - and I hope you consider submitting a PHQIX submission as a result of your efforts!

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