Project Description

“In short, simply building and using a performance management system that best suits your needs will likely result in additional benefits from accreditation – it works!”

Accreditation Brings Unanticipated Benefits to Oregon Health Authority’s Performance Management System

By Joey W. Razzano

The Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division (OHA) was accredited by PHAB in March 2016. Domain 9 of the Public Health Accreditation Board’s Standards and Measures requires OHA to both “Evaluate and continuously improve health department processes, programs, and interventions” and “Use a performance management system to monitor achievement of organizational objectives.”

During the initial accreditation process and subsequent development of a performance management system, OHA established a formal system of feedback documentation that we call our Operational Dashboards. These dashboards are used to report monthly to the OHA Director. Each section manager reports to their center administrator on progress related to the state health improvement plan (SHIP) goals for which their section has responsibility, section strategic and operational goals, employee engagement efforts, and any emerging issues. Not only does this system inform the center administrator of the section’s strategic and operational issues, it also allows center administrators to highlight key areas of progress as well as issues of concern. The center dashboards inform the division-wide dashboard which is discussed monthly at the division’s monthly operations meeting as well as the division executive leadership meeting. Each item is coded as red (risk), yellow (some risk) or green (little or no risk) for a quick, visual display of priority areas.

In addition to managers and staff being more informed, there have been several unanticipated benefits:

  • Leaders at many different levels are using dashboards to clearly define issues and keep internal owners accountable for progress

  • Communication scores are increasing on division-wide surveys following staff meetings and division-wide gatherings

  • Celebrations when we reach milestones or accomplishments are possible because success can be accurately measured

  • Progress on SHIP priorities are consistently and deliberately tracked and reported

  • Section managers and center administrators are actively using results from the Employee Engagement survey to implement quality improvement projects and initiatives

In short, simply building and using a performance management system that best suits your needs will likely result in additional benefits from accreditation – it works!

Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division in Portland, Oregon, was awarded national accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board on March 8, 2016.

About the author: Joey W. Razzano is Accreditation and Accountability Coordinator at the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division in Portland, Oregon. Contact her at [email protected].