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Quality Improvement Learning Collaboratives in Public Health
Findings from a Multisite Case Study
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded “mini-collaboratives” with state and local health departments (LHDs) in 16 states; participation in the program was leveraged to require implementation of quality improvement (QI) programs.
Learning collaboratives disperse knowledge across public health agencies. The Multi-State Learning Collaborative: Lead States in Public Health Quality Improvement (MLC) initiative provided local and state health departments with quality management tools; participants applied their new QI skills in priority areas. States were given considerable latitude in setting up their mini-collaboratives.
For this multi-site case study, researchers collected "on-the-ground" feedback from the mini-collaboratives.
Key Findings:
- The most effective mini-collaboratives showed distinct advantages in six areas, including sponsorship and faculty, topics and advance work.
- Successful mini-collaboratives enlisted senior leadership and articulated clear goals to participants.
- A majority of LHDs endorsed the mini-collaboratives as a learning and engagement tool.
This article presents case studies of the MLC mini-collaboratives. The authors identify characteristics of successful collaboratives. The next step will be to test approaches to collaborative learning developed by the MLC.