In 2018, we wrote about a relatively unexplored health technology innovation that we coined the “e-CHIP” or “electronic community health improvement plan.” This type of health plan is created in a cloud-based data software instead of a Word document or PDF. While not necessarily a new concept or practice, e-CHIPs have become the preferred alternative to paper-based CHIPs in many public health departments. 

The rapid development of affordable cloud-based data and performance management systems has made the possibility of embracing e-CHIPs more realistic for many public health departments.

We believe the e-CHIP format to be superior in nearly every way compared to the traditional paper-based community health improvement plan.

Fundamentally, it all boils down to the fact that e-CHIPs are easier to access, update, navigate, and share with department staff, health partners, stakeholders, and the public.

In other words, paper CHIPs = inflexible and hard to update, whereas e-CHIPs = flexible and easy to update.

Why does flexibility mean superiority? First, e-CHIPs are more accurate because they allow any public health department to instantly and remotely update new public health data, trends, and analyses as they occur (in real-time). This means CHIPs can be updated bi-annually, annually, quarterly, or even monthly instead of the traditional 3-5 years. As the COVID-19 pandemic has made painfully clear, health conditions for a community can change drastically in a matter of a few days, weeks, or months. Public health emergencies and crises are almost guaranteed to require additional analysis and data, new forms of funding, and, consequently, re-thinking our community health improvement strategies. Consider how COVID-19 has forced health departments to look into the effect of the pandemic on the opioid crisis.

Drastic (and unexpected) changes like the COVID-19 pandemic may require public health departments to change course rapidly, work on new strategies, and put old CHIP priorities on hold. They may open up entirely new data opportunities and reporting requirements (like analyzing the impact of telehealth and virtual appointments on community health and health service accessibility). Health departments may also want to see how unique circumstances and health innovations exacerbate or alleviate the original areas of concern identified through the community health needs assessment and its accompanying CHIP. Sometimes this process renders the original CHIP obsolete within a matter of months or a year after its creation.

e-chip ebook cover

Learn more about the benefits of e-CHIPs

Download our free e-Book: e-CHIPs do it Better; 4 Reasons to Automate Your Community Health Assessments and Improvement Plans

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So how do you ensure your hard work in completing your CHA and developing your CHIP doesn’t go to waste? You utilize tools that allow you to update your plan anytime/ anywhere to stay relevant. You also use tools that make it easier for everyone (from department staff to the average citizen) to read and understand the plan.

When you can instantly update the data and accompanying analysis of health indicators and performance measures, the plan becomes more agile and thus continually actionable. Actionable data allows us to bring more precision to our passion for health and increase the odds of our success.

Second, paper CHIPs may be designed beautifully, but they can also be a pain to read. Long blocks of tiny text and minuscule graphs with old data are recipes for boredom, confusion, and lack of focus. In a document format, it is also harder to quickly understand priorities, understand the most critical metrics, and understand how performance data connects to community-level goals and impact. e-CHIPs, by their nature, make all three of these missing factors easy to accomplish for the average human being. They are thus superior communication and data transparency tools. e-CHIPs can also simultaneously serve as the CHIP AND the data management tool that makes the CHA and CHIP possible in the first place. A data management tool is still necessary with a paper-based CHIP, even if it’s just Excel. With an e-CHIP, you get data management AND the CHIP development tool in one system, saving you time, effort, and money.

If you’re interested in reading more about the structure and benefits of e-CHIPs, I recommend downloading our e-Book: (e-CHIPs Do it Better; Four Reasons to Automate Your Community Health Needs Assessments and Community Health Improvement Plans).

Despite allowing for a superior format, there can still be ineffective e-CHIPs if they’re created with inefficient e-CHIP software. Good e-CHIP software:

  • Allows you to measure not only things but also provide an accompanying analysis on those things (always include the story with the data)
  • Allows you to update data remotely anytime, anywhere (with user and accessibility restrictions, of course)
  • Is designed specifically for the public health sector (takes your specific needs in mind and provides everything you need to do your job better)
  • Allows you to create measures and organize them in a way that is most meaningful and helpful for you (customizable language and organization)
  • Allows you to disaggregate data in the pursuit of health equity (helps you answer how health data is different for different groups of people)
  • Allows you to share the plan online via a public link, social media, email, etc. (aka., you can publish your plan instantly without the need for a graphic designer!)
  • Is HIPAA compliant

Many health departments have chosen Clear Impact Scorecard to create their e-CHIP. More importantly, the software accessibility, customizability, and format allow them to take swift action on data that isn’t performing well, reinforce what is working, and enhance transparency and communication with everyone who needs to see the plan.

Check out these examples of public health department e-Chips created with Clear Impact Scorecard for a better understanding of what we mean:

1. 2019 Community Health Improvement Plan (e-CHIP)- Polk County (North Carolina)

Brief description: This e-CHIP was created and submitted on September 2nd, 2019, to meet the requirements for the Polk County Long and/ or Short Term Community Health Improvement Plans. The 2018 Community Health Assessment priority areas are:

Mental Health
Healthy Eating, Active Living

View e-CHIP: https://embed.clearimpact.com/Scorecard/Embed/59763

This e-CHIP is publicly accessible via WNC Health Impact Polk County Reports (https://www.wnchn.org/wnc-healthy-impact/reports/polk/)

2. 2019 Jackson County Community Health Improvement Plan (e-CHIP) (North Carolina)

Brief Description: The following CHIP Scorecard was created and submitted on September 9th, 2019, to meet the requirements for the Jackson County Long-Term Community Health Improvement Plans. The 2018 Community Health Assessment priority areas are:

Obesity, Physical Activity, & Nutrition
Substance Misuse Prevention

View e-CHIP: https://embed.clearimpact.com/Scorecard/Embed/55534

This e-CHIP is publicly accessible via Jackson County Department of Public Health Community Health Data (http://health.jacksonnc.org/community-health-data)

3. Macomb County 2017 Community Health Improvement Plan

Brief Description: This e-CHIP is a community-driven, strategic and measurable work plan. It defines how community partners across sectors will come together to address priority health issues identified through a comprehensive assessment of local data. The priority areas identified for Macomb County are:

Chronic Disease and Healthy Lifestyle
Behavioral Health
Access to Services
Social Determinants of Equity

View e-CHIP: https://embed.clearimpact.com/Scorecard/Embed/25953

This e-CHIP is publicly accessible via the Macomb County Government Community Health Assessment Homepage (https://cha.macombgov.org/CHA-Home)

So, are you ready to reconsider your approach to the traditional CHA/CHIP? Are you ready to automate through an e-CHIP? By automating these plans, you will engage in better decision-making, improve communication, and simplify the entire planning process.

Next Steps

If you’re interested in making the best decision for your health department this year and transitioning to an e-CHIP, we’d love to help you!

  1. First, we invite you to speak with one of our friendly staff for a brief 30-minute conversation so we can show you exactly how to use Clear Impact Scorecard to create your e-CHIP.
  2. Next, try uploading ten health indicators or health department metrics in our Scorecard Free Tier so that your team can get a feel for the software before you decide to purchase.
  3. Bonus: sign up for our Measurable Equity One Year Challenge to support the integration of health equity into your Community Health Improvement Plan.
  4. If you’d like to learn more about e-CHIPs, go here.