Columbus County
HEALTH DEPARTMENT
KIMBERLY L. SMITH, RN, BSN, MSHCA, DIRECTOR
PO Box 810
Whiteville, NC 28472
304 Jefferson Street
Fax: 910-640-1088
October 15, 2012
TO:
All Staff
FROM:
Kim
SUBJECT:
Kaizen Event
The Columbus County Health Department is participating in the Public Health Quality Improvement
101 (PH QI 101) Program to:
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

Decrease the Maternal Health total average visit time by 25% by January 1, 2013
Improve Maternal Health client satisfaction rating of excellent from 76 % to 86% rating the
overall visit excellent by January 1, 2013
Reduce the MH no show rate from 13 % to 8 % by January 1, 2013
On November 5, 2012 we will participate in a 4 day Kaizen Event. During this time, the QI team and
staff from the NC Center for Public Health Quality and NC State will work with our department to
design, test, and implement improvement change ideas and/or structured process by which we can
gather data, plan strategies, implement strategies, study the impact the changes have made and if
needed make additional process changes and continue the cycle.
We have learned that input and involvement of staff is important in implementing an effective and
sustainable improvement process. During the Kaizen, you may be asked to provide input and test
potential solutions to improve the work we do. The Kaizen Event is designed to not only make change,
but serve as an excellent learning opportunity. We encourage you all to sit in on meetings and
discussions to learn more about quality improvement as well as provide feedback to our team. You are
also invited to attend the QI team’s Kaizen Report Out which will be held on the final day of the event.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or any member of our Public Health Quality
Improvement Team.
You may also learn more about quality improvement and the NC Center for Public Health Quality by
visiting: http://www.ncpublichealthquality.org.