Between 6-12 months

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.

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...

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.

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.

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...

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...

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.

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.

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).

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...

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

By using Kaizen, Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA) in North Carolina reduced food establishment violations by 22% and further protected residents from foodborne illness.

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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,...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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 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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...