Step 5 - Evaluate Plan of Action
After creating and implementing the plan of action (Step
4), your team is ready to complete the fifth step of
the DOH 5-Step Performance Improvement Process:
"Evaluate Plan of Action." It is critical to evaluate
the plan, including the strategies and associated activities, to determine
the impact on the selected priority.
Getting Started
Evaluation is a systematic process of reviewing data to assess
the value or worth of something. Through evaluation, it will
become clear whether or not the team is making progress toward
achieving the plan's goal(s). In the DOH 5-Step
Performance Improvement Process, your team will evaluate the
plan of action. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the
degree of success the plan has had in positively impacting the
priorities.
When reviewing the results of your plan's activities,
strategies, and objectives, determine whether or not progress is
being made toward the goal and priority. Evaluation results validate
or invalidate the effectiveness of the activities
within the plan.
Collecting Data
It is important to build evaluation indicators, including the
necessary data collection schedule, into the plan of action as
its being created. Knowing ahead of time what you want to
measure will help determine how to collect the supporting data.
To get the data you need for evaluation, your team may need to
create new data collection tools, such as
check sheets or surveys. A few examples of existing data sources to support
evaluation include internal performance scorecards,
Administrative Snapshots,
programmatic reports, and customer satisfaction and employee
satisfaction surveys. Keep in mind the need for measures of
short-term success. Many of the measures on the
County Performance Snapshot
[106K PDF]
are long-term outcomes which may not show movement for several
years. Along with these long-term outcomes, include indicators
that can be collected and reported in more frequent increments.
Displaying
Data for Analysis
Using graphs and charts to display data helps to better
communicate with your team and shows a visual representation of the data.
For example, a
histogram quickly displays the
spread and frequency of data.
For detailed
information on analyzing data, please see
Step 2: Analyze Data.
Acting On
Evaluation Results
If reviewing evaluation data validates that the intended
progress was made, the next step is ensuring continuous
progress by standardizing the processes that support the
activities implemented in the plan.
Standardizing processes may include:
reviewing existing policies,
procedures, flow charts, process forms, training materials and
all other associated documentation of the process;
adopting the solution formally by
making changes to related process documentation;
communicating changes to those
affected; and/or,
monitoring of the solution to
ensure sustained performance.
If reviewing evaluation data indicates that the intended
expectations were not met, the team may need to conduct further
analysis (see
Step 2: Analyze Data).
If further analysis validates the
need to revise activities in the plan, make the necessary
revisions, implement the revised activities, and re-evaluate
progress to see if the revisions are creating the desired
outcomes. Don't forget to document lessons learned to avoid
making the same mistake - or mistakes! - twice.
Sharing Evaluation Results
Communicating
evaluation results allows those within your
Central Office Program, County Health Department (CHD),
community, and the Department of Health (DOH) to celebrate
successes and share lessons learned.
For CHDs, evaluation data can help in local community health
improvement planning efforts to identify solutions; it can also
assist CHDs or Central Office Programs with internal strategic
planning.
Submission of
successful activities or projects, as evidenced by data, to the
Bright Ideas Databank
is a great way to share your successes throughout DOH.
What's Next?
Planning for improvement is a continuous process. After you
evaluate the plan, you will have the results you need to
continue to impact and improve identified priorities. Your
efforts can demonstrate your commitment to fulfilling the
mission of the Department of Health - to promote, protect, and
improve the health of all people in Florida.
Visit our
Data Sources
page for links to other resources you may find helpful while
evaluating your plan.
Have a question? Need help getting started?
Legal notice: Under
Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not
want your e-mail address released in response to a public
records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity.
Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
Staff in the Office of Performance Improvement is available to help you!
Contact us
to request Technical Assistance
(TA).
Page Updated 11/2011 |
