Implementing a performance management system isn’t just a good idea – it’s a PHAB requirement. So, one of the first things you should do when seeking PHAB Accreditation is set up a system to store, organize, and analyze your data.
There are, however, a lot of performance management software systems out there. You may be wondering what to look for in selecting a system.
Here are four software characteristics to consider:
- Simple –The system should be easy to set up, understand, navigate, and edit.
- Drives Improvement – It should help you improve your performance, not just measure it.
- Supports Transparency and Documentation – It should be easy to share your data with stakeholders, the public, and PHAB.
- Versatile – The system should help simplify and streamline your data management across CHA, CHIP, Departmental Strategic Plan, QIP, and PHAB efforts.
When looking for a system that meets these criteria, Clear Impact Scorecard is one option to consider. It was designed specifically for government organizations. Here’s how Clear Impact meets these criteria:
Simple
Performance management and quality improvement, not to mention PHAB Accreditation, are intensive activities. Engaging public health department staff, who typically already feel stretched thin, in these activities is often challenging. Your software system should make the work simpler, not more complicated. In other words, you want a system that is quick and easy to implement and use. Clear Impact Scorecard is designed to be simple and easy to set up, navigate, and manage. With the Scorecard “fastbuilder,” you can create and configure an entire scorecard with Results, Indicators, Programs & Performance Measures all on the same screen. You can also visualize the structure of your scorecard as you build it, add data in seconds, and make quick edits on the fly.
Drives Improvement
The beauty of PHAB Accreditation is that it actually requires health departments to engage in rigorous practices that will lead to improved health outcomes. Your software system should have the same impact on your department – it should not only collect data; it should drive continuous improvement. Clear Impact Scorecard supports data-driven decision-making by guiding you through a simple 5-step process to analyze and improve community health outcomes and your departmental performance. It consists of 1) graphing baseline and historical data, 2) analyzing the conditions that led to the current state of the data, 3) identifying partners, 4) exploring what works or what has worked in other communities to move the needle on wellbeing, and 5) outlining a detailed action plan. This process provides the rigor and transparency needed to support measurable improvements. It also creates a container for continuous communication – a process that is ultimately a major role of backbone organizations.
Supports Transparency and Documentation
PHAB puts a heavy premium on public health education and communication with partner organizations. Public health departments must not only engage in these practices, they must document that they have done so. Therefore, your software system should (1) support information sharing, transparency, and engagement and (2) document these practices. Clear Impact Scorecard has many features to help you do both. First, you can easily share your community health and performance data with the public by “embedding” your scorecards on public websites or sharing links with partners. Check out how Vermont Department of Health (one of the first PHAB accredited organizations) uses Clear Impact Scorecard to share data and educate the public about community health issues. Additionally, you have the ability to create custom PDF reports of your data in Clear Impact Scorecard. These PDF reports (and links to publicly embedded Scorecards) can be submitted to PHAB as documentation of required practices.
Versatile
PHAB requires you to create a Community Health Assessment (CHA), Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), a Department Strategic Plan, and a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) to become accredited. Your work will be a lot easier if your performance management system can support all of these requirements. Housing all of your data in one place also removes the need to train staff in the use of multiple systems. Because Clear Impact Scorecard is designed to help you manage community-level data AND performance-level data, it’s going to help simplify the creation of all three of these plans. Many health organizations are currently using the Scorecard to create electronic versions of CHAs, CHIPs, Strategic Plans, and QIPs (you can see some of them here). With Clear Impact Scorecard, you have the ability to link your program-level data to your community-level health data to get a macro-level view of how everything is working. This makes it easier for you to engage in effective databased decision-making.
Sign up for a Demo of Clear Impact Scorecard today to see how you can accelerate and maintain PHAB Accreditation!
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