While there’s no single part of Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles that’s more important than the others, planning is the foundation of the work. After all, the P comes first. But that building block can be more of a stumbling block for many stakeholders in quality improvement (QI) efforts. In some cases, teams might suffer from analysis…
As part of the Improving Children’s Vision: Systems, Stakeholders & Support (ICV) collaborative, the state team in Arizona found that many children were not only failing their vision screenings, but many were also lost to follow-up and not receiving necessary interventions early enough. “This is a huge issue for us: kids failing a screening and…
This is one of a series of posts based on the “Engaging Senior Leadership in Your Quality Improvement (QI) Work” webinar. When requesting information, a familiar refrain from cops is, “just the facts ma’am.” Similarly, when a leader or boss is asked to support a new initiative, a common refrain is, “show me the evidence…
If you have sickle cell disease (SCD) and live in Indianapolis, you’ll likely face little problem accessing care and support from trained specialists. But travel outside Indiana’s capital city and many communities lack supports to help those with SCD manage their disease. “Lake County has the greatest need for pediatric SCD care, but despite its…
I almost died last week. (OK, maybe that is a little dramatic.) I was at work, responding to emails when I saw the notification light on my cell phone. Like a Pavlovian dog, I quickly swiped my password, tapped the alert and the email with the picture popped open. As much as I hate the…
In Medicaid-funded programs across the country, families are learning how to achieve a healthy weight through better nutrition and increased fitness. To maximize the benefits of these programs—and protect children from long-term health problems like increased risk for heart disease—NICHQ recently gathered insights from participating families on the best approaches to tackling obesity, which was…
This is one of a series of posts based on the “Engaging Senior Leadership in Your Quality Improvement (QI) Work” webinar. Learning leaders’ styles is a great first step towards engaging them in quality improvement (QI) efforts. The next two steps — establishing a vision and aligning aims with the organization — are important both…
Although great strides have been made in recent years, infant mortality remains a problem in the United States. The infant mortality rate has declined – dropping 13 percent between 2005 and 2013 – while still leaving the U.S. far behind many industrialized nations. One of the difficulties in addressing this crisis has been the multitude…
As public health professionals, we are tasked with designing, implementing and evaluating programs and policies that are intended to improve population health. A critical part of this work is partnering with the families in communities we want to reach. This is the best way to try to understand what matters most to them and how…
Hearing loss is a common birth defect in the United States, affecting one to three babies per 1,000 live births. In Louisiana, most children receive hearing screenings at birth, but the number receiving appropriate follow-up care when diagnosed with potential hearing loss was only 38 percent a few years ago. The state’s Early Hearing Detection…