Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111046

Dennis Vincent Cookro, MD, MPH¹, Donna Marshall, RN², Kathy Barnett, RN², and Laura Reeves². (1) College of Public Health, University of South Florida, PO Box 50324, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32240, (850) 245-4007, Dennis_Cookro@doh.state.fl.us, (2) Office of Performance Improvement, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #C24(HPI), Tallahassee, FL 32399-1711

Public Health “Peer Reviewers”: Front line evidence advocates

“Quality improvement (QI) reviews— the process by which state and local health agencies use data to improve programs, policies, and health outcomes— are essential to creating learning organizations that are adaptable and flexible …The Florida Department of Health(DOH) has worked hard to successfully build a QI system that emphasizes a collegial approach, and encourages sharing information and best practices.”

The excerpt above is taken from a case study published in February, 2005 by the Public Health Foundation as a follow up to previous work by the Turning Point Collaborative.

The Florida DOH has established and expanded a corps of Public Health “Peer Reviewers” for its QI process. The Reviewers are selected from outstanding local health department professionals. Peer Reviewers are very familiar with the processes and outcomes of County Health Departments (CHD), as they work daily on the front lines of public health. Serving in a second role as an integral part of the DOH QI system, they review the outcome and process evidence and motivate real improvements in CHD performance. Working as a QI team member, each of the Peer Reviewers brings special experience and knowledge to the CHD they review with the QI team. Each of the Peer Reviewers also reaps information about outstanding processes from the CHD they visit. The QI system is now more credible and more than one CHD benefits from a QI visit. Excellent practices are now spreading much faster among the State's local health agencies.

Learning Objectives: