Annual Report Innovation Reflection: How to Describe an Innovation Process 

Public health practitioners are called upon daily to respond to ongoing and emerging health needs in their communities. Innovation is a way to develop solutions to support public health modernization and transformation and can be used as a tool to adapt to ever-changing needs. The PHAB Standards & Measures incorporate innovation; in Reaccreditation Measure 9.2.2 A: Foster innovation, health departments must demonstrate how they support an environment for innovation, not just what innovations have occurred. Often times health departments do not know where to start when it comes to talking about innovation, or the processes that support it.  

The following can be used to help health departments demonstrate innovative processes they use and share their innovation stories. For additional innovation related resources, please visit the PHAB Learning Center. 

What is Public Health Innovation?  

Public health innovation refers to the creation and implementation of a novel process, policy, product, program, or system leading to improvements that impact health and equity. Tenets of public health innovation include the following: 

• It is an ongoing, systematic process that can generate incremental or radical change. 

• It requires both collaboration with diverse team members and partners and co-production with people with lived experience who will be affected by the results of the innovation. 
• It is an open process lending itself to adaptation or replication. 

Innovating is not new to public health practitioners and there are many examples of departments implementing new processes, procedures, and programs to respond to the unique needs of their communities. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barry Eaton District Health Department in partnership with local disability service providers and schools, offered several Sensory-Friendly COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics. To develop Sensory-Friendly Clinics, they engaged in an innovation process to develop a solution to meet their community’s needs.  

Keep these tips in mind as you think about implementing innovation processes into your health department: 

• Innovations can be simple or complex; both are equally important and can add value to a health department’s work.  
• Adapting technology is not necessarily innovative; if the technology is already broadly adapted, it may still be beneficial for the health department but is not considered innovative.  
• Modernization and innovation are not the same thing; if something is new and modern for a health department, it is not necessarily new (a tenant of public health innovation) to the field.   
• Continuous quality improvement is the ongoing effort to achieve improvements in a health department’s efficiency, effectiveness, performance, and outcomes that can improve systems, services, and community health. This may occur through innovative processes but is not a required component of continuous quality improvement.  

• Innovation processes should lead to something new; this does not necessarily mean that it has never been done before (as confirming originality may be difficult) but it cannot be a solution that is already well known or has widespread implementation.  

What is an Innovation Process?  

Innovation processes are intentional, collaborative, creative and utilize an IDEA lens. Using an innovation process provides structure, shared language, and guidance on how to think about things differently.  

Examples of innovation processes or training topics that foster an innovation culture include:  

• Design thinking and human-centered design 
• Collaborative creative brainstorming through mind mapping, slip writing (ideas submitted anonymously), brain netting (ideas submitted through an online process), reverse brainstorming (explore causes of a problem before thinking about solutions) 
• Creative intelligence/Creative quotient  
• Interaction design  

• Strategic design  

These processes, and the education to perform such processes, are tools to help staff think differently about solving problems.  

Fostering Innovation in Health Departments  

Health department staff and leadership can foster innovation in a number of ways to modernize and transform their public health department and system for current and future generations:  

• Be open to new ideas and ways of doing things. 
• Include diverse voices and perspectives and ensure community voice is centered.  
• Provide education and training on innovation processes. 
• Create and support a culture that supports staff in trying new things without the fear of failure – in this setting, if an innovation process does not produce the desired results, it is still recognized as a learning opportunity. 

• Encourage staff time to be used to brainstorm and contribute to innovation processes.  

Keep in mind, innovations are not always disruptive or radical; innovations can occur incrementally and lead to small improvements that make a big impact over time. By fostering an environment that encourages innovation, health departments are better prepared to deploy innovation processes in real time or as part of a strategic response. Ultimately, such processes should lead to better systems, programs, and products that improve the health and wellbeing of all community members. 

Innovation and the Accreditation Process 

Innovation is vital to public health practice and is included in the PHAB Standards & Measures used for PHAB accreditation. As part of the Annual Report process, accredited health departments select one Reflection and Learning option from a menu of offerings, which includes the option to submit a narrative or example that demonstrates efforts to foster innovative skills. This Reflection and Learning option is intended to prepare health departments to meet reaccreditation Measure 9.2.2 A: Foster Innovation. 

Detailing the innovation process ensures accredited health departments are fostering a culture of innovation that will help them transform; using an innovation process provides structure, shared language, and guidance on how to think about things differently. Accreditation demonstrates that you meet the Standards & Measures through documented processes, procedures or policies. It is important to document the innovation process(es) undertook to achieve a specific outcome, even if it wasn’t successful. For more guidance and tips on the Annual Report and Standards & Measures, accredited health departments and those in process should visit the PHAB Learning Center.