Achieving Public Health Accreditation and Creating Continuous Improvement in Macomb County Health Department

In partnership with the communities it serves, the Macomb County Health Department’s (MCHD) mission is to protect the health and well-being of all who live, work, and play in Macomb County. The department pursues this mission by providing a wide range of programs and services delivered by Environmental Health Services, Family Health Services, Community Health Planning and Promotion, and its Disease Prevention and Control program.

Two months after a virtual site visit in December 2020, MCHD was awarded national accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) in February 2021. Established in 2007, PHAB is the nonprofit organization that administers the national accreditation program. Through the program, PHAB aims to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, promoting robust infrastructure, and stimulating innovation.

PHAB’s national accreditation program, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance.

According to Maria Swiatkowski, a Community Health Planner at MCHD, Clear Impact Scorecard played a vital role in helping the department achieve PHAB Accreditation. In addition to providing a mechanism for continuous improvement, strategizing, and performance management, the department utilized Clear Impact Scorecards for several of the documentation requirements in PHAB’s Standards and Measures. They found the Scorecard’s downloadable PDF functionality to be particularly useful in submitting documentation.

Some of the standards and measures that were Scorecard-based included the following (we’ve provided links to corresponding scorecards whenever possible):

Standard 1.4 – Provide and use the results of health data analysis to develop recommendations regarding public health policies, processes, programs, or interventions.

Measure 1.4.2  – Tribal/community summaries or fact sheets of data to support public health improvement planning processes at the Tribal or local level

Scorecards Submitted:

1.4.2 RD1 – 3/4/50 Scorecard

1.4.2 RD2 – Entire MCHD Scorecards/performance management website

Standard 5.2 – Conduct a comprehensive planning process resulting in a Tribal/state/community health improvement plan.

Measure 5.2.3 A – Elements and strategies of the health improvement plan implemented in partnership with others

Scorecards Submitted:

5.2.3 RD1 – CHIP Scorecard/ Progress

5.2.3 RD2 – CDHL (chronic disease healthy lifestyle) performance measure – unified resource scorecard

Standard 5.3 – Develop and implement a health department organizational strategic plan.

Measure 5.3.3 A – Implemented department strategic plan

Scorecards Submitted:

5.3.3 RD1 – Strategic Plan Scorecard

Standard 9.1 – Use a performance management system to monitor the achievement of organizational objectives.

Measure 9.1.3 A – Implemented performance management system

Scorecards Submitted:

9.1.3 RD3 – Immunization Scorecard/progress

Before pursuing accreditation, MCHD Department already utilized the Clear Impact Scorecard to advance its mission, implement its strategic plan, and develop its community health improvement plan. Scorecard helps MCHD answer how well the department and its partners are performing to adjust public health strategies accordingly.

MCHD continues to use the Clear Impact Scorecard as a performance management dashboard to communicate key goals, indicators, and measures of public health issues in the community. To provide transparency, MCHD publicly shares Scorecards on its departmental website. These Scorecards are updated with real-time data and are interactive so that the public can gain a deeper understanding of health issues, strategies, and progress.

As the department and county work to get “back to normal” amid the COVID-19 pandemic and response efforts, MCHD will expand its Scorecard usage and other Clear Impact services. Two new Scorecards recently added to the website’s collection of dashboards include an “Oral Health in Macomb County” Scorecard and a “Social Determinants of Health” Scorecard.