Title
CONSIDERATION OF GRANT TO THE NATIONAL NETWORK OF PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTES (NNPHI) IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,000.00 FOR A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT (QI) AWARD PROGRAM IN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
Presented by: Claudia Blackburn, Health Director, Sedgwick County Health Department.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the electronic submission of the grant application; and if awarded, authorize the Chairman to sign all necessary documents, including the grant award agreement containing substantially the same terms and conditions as the application; and approve establishment of budget authority as provided in the financial considerations section of this request.
Body
Grant Renewal: No
Never Applied: Yes
Applied; not awarded: No
Grant Summary and Timeline: The National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) is the national membership network organization representing thirty-eight members in twenty-eight states and is recognized as a national leader in advancing quality in the public health system. Public health institutes improve public health outcomes by fostering innovation, leveraging resources, and partnering with government agencies, communities, the health care delivery system, media, and academia.
Strengthening the Community of Practice for Public Health Improvement (COPPHI) is a new initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and managed by NNPHI. The COPPHI initiative will: 1) facilitate the exchange of best practices, 2) build capacity among the nation's public health departments to conduct quality improvement (QI), and 3) support the movement towards high performing health departments through QI.
COPPHI is launching as health departments across the country submit applications to the Public Health Accreditation Board, a new national accreditation program that provides consistent national standards for health departments and enables people to know that their health departments are providing high quality services and protecting and improving the health of their communities. The overall goal of national accreditation for state, territorial, local, and Tribal health departments is to provide a catalyst for continuous quality improvement and, in turn, improve the impact of health departments in protecting and improving health in their communities.
The QI Award Program (this grant opportunity) is a key component of the COPPHI initiative and is purposed to support health departments to become more proficient in the adoption and application of QI and to meet the accreditation standards and measures set by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). NNPHI will provide health departments with $5,000 awards coupled with individualized QI coaching to conduct a QI project that results in measureable change. The QI Award Program will support projects that apply QI methods and tools to improve processes, outputs, or outcomes.
Financial Considerations:
Grant period starts: April 1, 2012
Grant period ends: November 1, 2012
Source of funding:
Grant: $ 5,000.00
Required Match: $ 0.00
Required Cash Match: $ 0.00
Required In-Kind Match: $ 0.00
Other funding: $ 0.00
TOTAL SOURCES: $ 5,000.00
Uses of funding
Operational costs: $ 5,000.00
Personnel: $ 0.00
Contractual services: $ 4,730.00
Operational supplies: $ 0.00
Equipment: $ 0.00
Indirect administrative costs: $ 270.00
Capital projects cost: $ 0.00
TOTAL USES: $ 5,000.00
Source of matching funds: N/A
Source of other funding: N/A
Budget Authority Adjustment: Yes, for $5,000; funding for this grant award will be managed through a new fund center.
Personnel considerations: No additional staff are being requested with this grant.
Analysis:
The eight-month project timeline will provide the Health Department with a hands-on opportunity to learn and apply QI to make incremental improvements with the guidance of an experienced QI coach. In addition, we will be provided with opportunities for peer exchange and learning via participation in webinars and an in-person accreditation and QI-focused meeting scheduled for June 2012. Additionally, the completed QI project will be featured on NNPHIs QI Practice Exchange an interactive website that features exemplary QI projects from the field.
The QI coach will provide at least fifteen hours of technical assistance during the course of the project cycle. Examples of technical assistance include: facilitating the use of QI tools; addressing issues related to change management; applying lessons learned across programs (eliminating silos); and making recommendations for strengthening agency QI policy and protocol. QI coaches selected by NNPHI for this project are highly regarded at the national-level.
Webinars and teleconferences will be available at regular intervals throughout the project timeline and will provide an opportunity for department-wide staff training to strengthen QI culture and staff knowledge of QI techniques and methods. The June 2012 meeting will include educational, networking and training opportunities, and will serve as a platform to present our QI project accomplishments.
Expected measurable outcomes:
• SCHD staff will complete a QI project with the assistance of an expert QI coach to improve a health department process or outcome.
• A $5,000 monetary award and fifteen hours of individualized technical assistance (approximate value: $3,000) from an experienced public health QI coach will be provided by the funder.
• SCHD will identify a student-intern for a paid internship (paid for by these grant funds) through a competitive application and interview process to support these grant activities.
• The project team will take part in three to five webinars/teleconferences that will provide an opportunity for technical assistance and peer-exchange/learning.
• The funder will connect the project team to online and live learning communities and national networks of public health professionals engaged in QI and accreditation work.
• The funder will provide travel, lodging, and per diem for one person from the health department to attend the June, 2012 Open Forum meeting hosted by NNPHI.
• The completed SCHD QI project will receive national attention as all funded projects through this grant award will be featured on NNPHIs QI Practice Exchange website.
Alternatives:
Since 2011, SCHD has had in place a department-wide quality improvement plan. The plan outlines goals for the regular completion of quality improvement projects. SCHD currently has adequate staff and resources to complete QI projects, however, this grant provides an opportunity to collaborate with a national partner in the National Network of Public Health Institutes and take advantage of monetary and non-monetary incentives (expert QI coach and learning community) that would otherwise not be available at this time. Additionally, these funds would allow SCHD, through a competitive application process; to hire a local public health student to support the project activities as a paid intern.
Policy considerations: Authority to accept the grant and enter into the grant agreement is provided for by K.S.A. 19-101. Approval is by simple majority vote.
Legal considerations: