Domain 9: Evaluate and continuously improve health department processes, programs, and interventions

Lincoln County Health Department
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
DCHS Public Health
In Progress
Impact Statement:
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,...
MCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
CGCDPH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
LCPH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
TCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
DCHS
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
DOH-Manatee
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
MCDPH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
Connecticut DPH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
BCPHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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
Impact Statement:
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...
KCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
Washington County
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
Completed
Impact Statement:
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).
Boston Public Health Commission
Completed
Impact Statement:
By improving the perceived value of staff meetings, the Boston Public Health Commission can be more effective in its role to advance population health.
OCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
Oneida County Health Department’s (OCHD’s) QI team increased QI project submissions from staff, thus strengthening ongoing performance improvement in the agency.
CG Health
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
CGCDPH
In Progress
Impact Statement:
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...
TCPH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
CPH
In Progress
Impact Statement:
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...
Houston Health Department
In Progress
Impact Statement:
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,...
MDH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
Tulare County Public Health Department
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
Oneida County Public Health Department
Completed
Impact Statement:
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....
Stratford Health Department
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
City of St. Louis Department of Health
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
In Progress
Impact Statement:
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...
MDH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
HEALTH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
Vermont Department of Health
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
DCHS
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
Marion County Health Department
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
KCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
NCHD 5-2
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
NC DPH
In Progress
Impact Statement:
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...
Cabarrus Health Alliance
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
MCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
North Carolina Division of Public Health
Completed
Impact Statement:
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.
Dare County Health and Human Services
Completed
Impact Statement:
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,...
HCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
FCHD
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
JCDHE
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
CDPH
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
OHA–Public Health Division
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
DeKalb County Board of Health
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...
DOH-Seminole
Completed
Impact Statement:
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...

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