Examples of quality improvement training for the public health workforce: Lessons from MLC-2

In late 2006, ten states were chosen by an expert review panel to lead a comprehensive effort to explore quality improvement strategies for state and local public health departments. Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington were selected from a field of 21 applicants to assess quality improvement strategies to enhance the work of public health departments. The project, called the Multi-State Learning Collaborative II: Quality Improvement in the Context of Assessment and Accreditation (MLC-2), is managed by the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the Public Health Leadership Society (PHLS). Each of the ten states in the collaborative indicated the importance of providing quality improvement training to the public health workforce. During the course of the fifteen month project, the participating states will explore numerous quality improvement techniques and apply them to areas in need of enhancement in their state. Several states will also work to define workforce competencies throughout the course of the project. This session will explore the various ways that the MLC-2 states enhanced the public health workforce in their state by providing training on quality improvement practices.