Recommendations for 2005 - 2007

Summary Recommendations for Key Health Indicators

• Adopt the Report Card.

• Publish the Report Card every two years in a hard copy summary and web-based format, with links to additional information and interventions.

• Commit resources to develop and implement a process to set targets.

Summary Recommendations for Performance Management (Standards)

• Adopt and apply the revised administrative standards as part of the Standards for Public Health in Washington State.

• Analyze the 2005 results of the system-wide measurement of the Standards for Public Health in Washington State in conjunction with program requirements to identify or reinforce priorities for system-wide improvements.

• Identify and test methods to incorporate the use of the standards throughout the work of public health as described in the legislation that requires the PHIP and development of the standards (see Appendix 7 of the 2004 PHIP Report).

• Adopt a contract monitoring system that uses the standards as a framework.

Summary Recommendations for PHIP Communications

• Conduct advanced workforce training to strengthen understanding of public health.

• Adopt a set of communication strategies that will achieve broader understanding of public health goals.

• Collect and tell public health "stories" that illustrate how public health affects everyone who lives in or visits Washington.

• Conduct a statewide media event to increase public understanding.

Summary Recommendations for Public Health Information Technology

• Develop a shared administrative structure for maintaining and enhancing evolving applications and development of a cost-sharing model for all public health IT systems in Washington.

• Identify top-priority areas where better use of technology could improve public health practice.

• Evaluate and recommend standards for hardware, software, severs, security, distance learning, and data collection and transfer.

• Leverage financial investments in technology most effectively.

• Review and evaluate applications to identify opportunities for efficiencies.

• Implement on-going training into IT planning.

Summary Recommendations for PHIP Workforce Development

• Implement recruitment and retention efforts at the agency and system level.

• Identify and develop a new generation of managers and leaders to maintain and improve the performance of public health agencies and the overall public health system.

• Build on the success of the first Everybody Counts report.

• Promote access for public health workers to training, technology, and tools needed to support learning.

• Use system-level competencies as the framework for assessing learning needs, and evaluate learning strategies that incorporate return on investment.

• Evaluate the usefulness of certification and credentialing and other incentives at various levels of the public health workforce.

Summary Recommendations for Access to Critical Health Services

• Collect and analyze community success stories.

• Communicate lessons learned.

• Promote integration and availability of data across programs.

• Look for additional resources to build on this work.

• Develop long-term policy with respect to critical health services.

Summary Recommendations for Public Health Finance

• Increase public health funding by $400 million to close the funding gaps identified in the Finance Committee's cost model.

• Expand the Finance Committee to include broader representation by state and local stakeholders to help identify opportunities to articulate the importance of fully funding our public health system, to explore viable state funding options, and to get this information to decision-makers.

• Implement the work of the Funding Allocations Subcommittee to make certain that allocation formulas are clear and all funding for programs is easily tracked on a website.