The Multistate Learning Collaborative, States as Laboratories

Abstract

The Multistate Learning Collaborative on Performance and Capacity Assessment or Accreditation of Public Health Departments (MLC) is an initiative undertaken with the Exploring Accreditation Project (EAP). The EAP is jointly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and staffed collaboratively by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to explore the implications and feasibility of a national public health accreditation system. The MLC, also financially supported through grants from RWJF, is designed under the auspices of the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the Public Health Leadership Society (PHLS) to enhance the accreditation/assessment activities already underway in each of the grantee states; to promote learning among the states participating in the collaborative; to disseminate information to state and local health departments nationally; and to inform the work of the EAP. Five states with mature accreditation or assessment programs were selected from among 18 applicants. This article describes the ongoing work, including breakthroughs and challenges, in these natural "laboratories" so that this information may be a resource for other states as well as nationally.

Applying Health Services Research to Public Health Practice: An Emerging Priority

“…At the same time, accreditation programs for public health agencies began to develop as mechanisms for stimulating widespread involvement in performance measurement and improvement activities. Several states launched accreditation programs for public health agencies during this period, including programs in Michigan, Missouri, and North Carolina (Beitsch et al 2006a, b). Many other states developed formal performance review and reporting initiatives designed to achieve similar objectives (Mays et al 2007).…”

“…Much of the existing research on public health services and delivery systems is descriptive in nature, providing an important base for future studies but offering little specific guidance to public health decision makers concerning how to improve practice. For example, recent studies provide a detailed view of how public health agencies are organized, what types of services they provide, and how these agencies are staffed and financed (Tilson and Gebbie 2004; Baker et al 2005; Beitsch et al 2006a, b). These studies highlight the extreme heterogeneity in organization and operation that exists across the nation's public health system.…”

Factors Driving the Adoption of Quality Improvement Initiatives in Local Health Departments

“…31 Second, participation in past performance-related activities, such as “Turning Point” “National Public Health Performance Standards,” and “Multi-state Learning Collaborative,” was also positively associated with QI implementation (analytical model I). An earlier report found that LHDs that participated in the Multi-state Learning Collaborative, 2 an early QI program, made significant progress in QI. 32 The other 2 process variables, staff QI training and completion of strategic planning, were significant factors in bivariate analyses.…”

Advancing Quality Improvement in Public Health by Exploring CQI in Alabama's Home Visiting Program

“…When CQI was introduced as an MIECHV requirement in 2010, few MIECHV awardees had experience using these methods. Between 2005 and 2011, 10 states participated in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Multistate Learning Collaboratives (MLC) to apply and evaluate CQI methods in public health 9. Experience in the MLC validated inclusion of CQI as a central tenet of voluntary national public health accreditation (launched in 2011) and revealed a lack of available practical guidance for implementing CQI in public health.…”