Project Description

nm dept of health

“Our journey toward PHAB accreditation, including the ongoing guidance from the PHAB Standards and Measures, has directly contributed to the continuance of self-assessment and the improvement of many facets of operation within NMDOH.”

Accreditation Leads the Way to Performance Management and Shared Knowledge

By Sarah Miller

The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) was accredited on November 10, 2015. Our journey toward PHAB accreditation, including the ongoing guidance from the PHAB Standards and Measures, has directly contributed to the continuance of self-assessment and the improvement of many facets of operation within NMDOH. This has been complimented in recent years by the technical assistanceprovided to NMDOH by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) with support and additional technical advice from the Public Health Foundation (PHF).

Featured here are some of the recent advancementsaccreditation has brought to NMDOH for gaining continued improvement in the areas of quality improvement and performance management. These advances are attributed to a combination of NMDOH leadership and the utilization of resources, such as the technical assistance noted above. We have also been able to explore and determine for ourselves what accreditation means for our agency. In doing so, NMDOH has been able to share its experiences with other agencies in the hope of helping them make use of some or all of our accreditation journey learnings so far.

In May 2018, NMDOH was featured in an infographic made available on ASTHO’s website to the broader public health and learning community. The infographic shared statistics and general information on improvements in public health and quality, highlighting the benefits of being accredited. One of the quality improvement (QI) projects highlighted, spanning 2016-2018 and beyond, was the NMDOH Policy Improvement Process whereby current and approved policies within the department rose from 10% compliance to 78% compliance by the end of 2017. This project is ongoing in the development of improved administration processes and is one of the QI projects of which we are most proud.

In May 2018, NMDOH Deputy Cabinet Secretary Dawn Hunter was a presenter in a three-part webinar series, hosted by ASTHO with the support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, which guided state health agencies toward meeting the requirements of Domain 6: Enforcing Public Health Laws.  A month later, In June 2018, NMDOH, presented a webinar titled, Pathway to Performance, Quality Improvement and Performance Management, A New Mexico Department of Health Approach Towards a Quality Culture, as part of ASTHO’s Accreditation Readiness and Performance Improvement Technical Assistance to States’ PM/QI Peer Network. This webinar contribution, available to the public health community at large, focused on NMDOH’s technical assistance program and the approach being taken in the following subject areas:

  • The role of quality improvement and performance management at NMDOH.

  • Quality Improvement Catalyst recruitment, training, and workshops.

  • The development of a performance management guide.

  • Developmental review of the QI Council Charter, Quality Improvement and Performance Management Development Plan, and the NMDOH Workforce Development Plan.

  • The NMDOH webinar series Pathway to Performance on Quality Improvement, Performance Management, and the workshop’s deliverables, which demonstrated how the two disciplines work together in combination and not isolation.

  • In August 2018, NMDOH contributed the NMDOH Quality Improvement and Workforce Development Plan and the NMDOH Performance Management Guide to the ASTHO library for sharing with other states and the broader public health community.

In August 2018, NMDOH contributed a chapter in a PHF publication. This chapter, A Guide to the NMDOH and Strategic Planning Roadmap and Performance Management System, provided a descriptive overview of the NMDOH SPR and how it is utilized and implemented within NMDOH.

The New Mexico Department of Health in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was awarded national accreditation through PHAB on November 10, 2015.

About the author:Sarah Miller is Accreditation Coordinator at the New Mexico Department of Health in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Contact her at [email protected].

Other benefits gained as a result of going through the accreditation process:

Accreditation:

  • Enhanced communication and engagement in quality improvement efforts

  • Increased interest in performance metrics and data analysis throughout the department

  • Identification of new areas of interest in staff training and professional development

  • Greater visibility and recognition of public health initiatives