quality systems
With Assessments from Coast to Coast,
L-SIP Increases Impact
By Bertina Su, MPH, senior specialist, Quality Systems
The Laboratory System Improvement
Program (L-SIP) saw an increase in
participation in April and May 2017
with four state public health laboratory
systems convening an L-SIP assessment
and one an L-SIP reassessment.
L-SIP gives state and local public health
laboratory systems an opportunity to
convene a one-day assessment with
system partners and stakeholders, such
as representatives from environmental
health, epidemiology, communications
and public safety, to identify system
strengths and opportunities for
improvement. During these assessments,
facilitators guide participants through
the questions in the L-SIP assessment
tool, which is divided into sections
that correspond to the 10 Essential
Public Health Services. 1 Laboratory
systems use the information gathered
from the assessment for strategic
planning, quality improvement and
other needed interventions.
Radley Remo, L-SIP coordinator from the
Florida Department of Health, Bureau
of Laboratories, came away from his
state’s assessment as an enthusiastic
supporter: “If your state hasn’t completed
an L-SIP assessment, I would encourage
you to do so. APHL made it so easy to
coordinate. They walked us through the
whole process from pre-planning to the
assessment report, provided technical
assistance and helped with identifying
facilitators. I was amazed at the quality
feedback our partners provided from
the L-SIP assessment. It gave us great
insight on what the system needs to do to
improve and identified partners that will
help make it happen.” APHL will provide
updates on post-assessment quality
improvement activities in future issues of
Lab Matters, the L-SIP Update newsletter
and Quality Improvement Forum calls. ■
L-SIP Assessments
• Mississippi Public Health
Laboratory: April 6, 2017
• Idaho Bureau of Laboratories: May 2, 2017
• Florida Department of Health, Bureau of
Public Health Laboratories: May 3, 2017
• Illinois Department of Public Health
Laboratory: May 11, 2017
L-SIP Reassessment
• New Mexico Department of
Health, Scientific Laboratory
Division: May 11, 2017
In the recent round of assessments,
participants identified system strengths
as Essential Service #2: Diagnose and
investigate health problems and health
hazards in the community (four out
of five sites) and #7: Link people to
needed personal health services and
assure the provision of health care
when otherwise unavailable (three out
of five sites). Participants determined
that improvements were needed
under Essential Service #8: Assure
competent public and personal health
care workforce (three out of five sites)
and #10: Research for new insights and
innovative solutions to health problems
(three out of five sites). Once notes
from the assessments are compiled,
laboratory system partners will consider
ways to address gaps in performance.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The Public Health System
and the 10 Essential Public Health Services.” https://www.cdc.gov/nphpsp/
essentialservices.html
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LAB MATTERS Summer 2017
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