Survey: NACCHO's Accreditation Preparation & QI Resources  

NACCHO is committed to further developing our capacity to provide relevant and timely information and useful tools and resources around accreditation preparation and quality improvement (QI). In an effort to understand how to improve, NACCHO is disseminating this survey to all accreditNATION subscribers to gather candid feedback. The first fifty respondents that complete and submit the survey will receive a free Public Health Memory Jogger! Please note that if you would like to receive a Memory Jogger you must provide your name and contact information.However, results will be analyzed anonymously.This survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. We thank you in advance for your candid and thoughtful responses. Click here to take the survey.  

 Accreditation and QI Sessions at NACCHO Annual 

If you are planning to attend NACCHO Annual in Hartford, CT this month, be sure to visit the sessions relating to accreditation and QI. There are several sharing sessions that focus on these topics including:

Public Health Accreditation: Improving the Quality of Services (Thursday, July 21 10:00AM)

Speakers include Kaye Bender, President and CEO of PHAB, Rex Archer, a local health official and PHAB board member, and Toho Soma, a PHAB beta test site accreditation coordinator. They will share first-hand insight into the accreditation program. This session will discuss the benefits of accreditation, processes used to undertake the self-assessment and site visit, and the relationship between accreditation and quality improvement (QI). Participants will also learn how an LHD used QI techniques to improve upon a priority area realized through the PHAB self-assessment to decrease the no-show rate at their HIV clinic.

Using Quality Improvement as a Strategy to Improve LHD Strategic Planning (Thursday, July 21 3:30PM)

This session will describe the practical application of the quality improvement (QI) process in developing successful strategic plans. Strategic planning can be tedious and a bit overwhelming, but a strong strategic plan can assist an organization in executing its mission and achieving its vision. Speakers from the Central District Health Department in Boise, Idaho will describe the process they undertook at their LHD to develop a model for strategic plan development, strategic plan, and tracking tool using the QI process.

5th Annual Performance Improvement Reception (Thursday, July 21 5:00PM)

Please join us for the 5th Annual Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP), National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP), and Public Health Accreditation Reception. Share your experiences, learn from others, and get to know fellow practitioners working on quality and performance improvement and accreditation. The reception is hosted by NACCHO's performance improvement teams and the public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), and will feature peer experts and resources to help you work on performance improvement in your community and prepare your agency for accreditation. This reception is open to ALL conference registrants; refreshments will be served; there will be a cash bar.

For a complete listing of these sessions, including these and more, click here. If you would like more information about NACCHO Annual, including how to register, click here. For more information, contact Lowrie Ward at lward@naccho.org.  

Story from the Field: Greater Somerset Public Health Partnership  

In the Spring of 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the novel flu strain H1N1 and local health departments (LHDs) across the country began their response to the virus. These agencies had to develop vaccine distribution strategies, address public concerns, and respond to media requests. The Greater Somerset Public Health Partnership (GSPHP), a non-profit agency serving ten counties in New Jersey, was able to secure CDC funding to respond to H1N1 in its region. As the partnership set up a way to schedule vaccinations, they used QI techniques to ensure service delivery was comprehensive. NACCHO's recently published Story from the Field describes how the leaders of the GSPHP used elements of the Plan-Do-Check-Act framework to approach their H1N1 efforts. Read the story here and browse other recently-added stories here. For more information or to share your own story, contact Lowrie Ward at lward@naccho.org.