Julie Massie~ DOHVE TA

DOHVE: Design  Options for Maternal, Infant, 
and Early Childhood Home Visiting Evaluation
 Working with US‐DHHS to support the federal MIECHV 
Program
 DOHVE:
 Design options for a federal evaluation of evidence‐
based home visiting programs
 Evaluation‐related Technical Assistance (TA) for 
“promising  approaches”
 TA for grantees’ continuous quality improvement, 
Management Information Systems (MIS), and 
benchmarks
DOHVE TA Team
 James Bell Associates (JBA)
 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center & 
Every Child Succeeds
 MDRC
Objectives for Today
 Provide an introduction to process maps
 Illustrate examples of how to develop a process map
 Demonstrate how this tool can be valuable in quality 
improvement
Quality Improvement
 Quality improvement comes from a desire to make 
things better
 At first glance, quality improvement might seem like 
more work piled on to an already impossible work load
 But if quality improvement can ultimately lessen that 
workload, and allow you to provide more 
efficient/better home visits for your families, leading 
to better outcomes, isn’t it worth it?
What is a Process Map/Flowchart? 
 Purpose:  Provides a visual diagram or picture of the 
sequence of steps to complete a task
 Team Learning:  Encourages understanding of how a 
process is implemented, identifies improvement 
opportunities, and highlights which steps may impact 
the performance
 Training Aid:  Assists in communicating to others how 
a process is done
What is a Process Map/Flowchart? 
 Shows: 
 Unexpected complexity, unnecessary loops
 Problem areas (waits/delays/confusion)
 Outlines the actual versus the ideal flow of the process
 Possibility for simplification, standardization
 Contributions to overall product by a variety of roles and 
individual
Methods 
 Pen and paper
 Markers and white board
 Sticky notes or cards and a large flip chart or wall
 Use computer tools‐ Visio, PowerPoint, etc.

 Identify and involve all key people involved with the 
process
 Don’t worry about drawing it the ‘right way’ at first
 Sequence is not important when brainstorming steps
 Once all ideas are shared, arrange the activities in the 
proper sequence
 Referral
FLOWCHART 
Call forwarded
to Call Center

Meet Program
Criteria?
Y N

Call forwarded Refer to local

to service provider resources

Home Visit Referral

Scheduled closed
Issues in Flowcharting
 Determine the appropriate level of detail
 Consistent use of the symbols
 Who is the audience?
 Boundaries – where does the process start and 
end?
Getting to Know Your Process
 Develop an AIM statement
 Observe the process in action
 Revise your high level process map to include 
additional elements based on your observation
 Where are opportunities for the process not to be 
followed, for problems to arise, or steps that can be 
eliminated?
It’s all about planning for the right outcome
Handy Hints for Identifying Aims
 What is the problem you are trying to solve?
 How do you know it is a problem?
 If you “fix” the problem, how will you and everybody 
else know that it is “fixed”?
 Should include the measure in the aim statement:  
Increase/decrease from X to Y by date.
Pizza Delivery
 Background:
 You are the owner of a local pizza restaurant that is 
having difficulty meeting customer expectations.  
Customers are complaining that they are not getting 
their pizza on time.  You have called a meeting with your 
staff to ask for ideas to solve the problem.
AIM Statement
By June 30, 2013, 95% of orders will be delivered within 
30 minutes of order being placed.

Why:
Increased customer satisfaction

 S – Specific (clearly stated)

 M – Measurable (measurable numeric goals)
 A – Actionable (within the control/influence of your team)
 R – Relevant (aligned with the organization’s priorities)
 T – Time bound (specific time frame)
Observe & Document the Current 
Process & Collect Baseline Data
 Do process observations
 List the steps of the process
 Create a high level process flow diagram
 Collect baseline data
 Display data on a run chart
Hints to Begin Our Process Map
 Be clear about the purpose of the process
 What is the output/outcome desired by the 
customer?
 What are the inputs to the process?
 Who are the key customers & suppliers?
Process: Producing &Delivering Pizza
Customer:  You

Output:  Delivered Pizza

Quality Characteristics:  
 Tastes good
 Plenty of Cheese
 Received in 30 minutes from when order is placed
Process: Producing &Delivering Pizza
Supplier:  ABC Pizza Shop

Process Boundaries:
 Begins with receiving the order
 Ends with returning to the shop
 High Level Process:  Producing & 
Delivering Pizza
Receive  Mix Bake  Assemble  Deliver  Collect  Return
Order Ingredients Pizza Order Order payment to Shop
Measuring Improvement
 While all improvement requires a change‐ all change is 
not an improvement
 Determining measures allows you to learn if your 
change is moving you toward or away from the 
improvement you are looking for
 Measures should be numeric, clear and specific
 How will we know our pizza’s are getting delivered 
faster?
Collect Baseline Data
Reasons for Late Pizza  Pizza Deliveries by Month
Deliveries: 100%

90%

(Quantifying Process  80%

Failures)

% Delivered On Time
70%

60%
 Wrong Address  ‐ 23 50%

 Wrong Order  ‐ 17 40%

30%
 Not Enough Drivers  ‐ 5 20%

 Complex Order ‐ 2 10%

0%
 Driver Lost ‐ 37 Jan '13
n=98
Feb '13
n=
Mar '13
n=
Apr '13
n=
May '13 Jun '13 n=
n=

 Stuck in Traffic ‐ 12
Number of Pizzas Delivered by Month

% On Time Target 95%
Identify & Quantify Process Failures
 For each major step in the process, note what typically 
goes wrong
 Note the frequency with which each breakdown occurs
 Note which of the breakdowns create the most serious 
problems with achieving the desired outcome of the 
process
Drivers of Change
 What is ideal or evidence based?
 Important to revisit as you understand the project 
more
 Help focus the selection of changes to test
 What are the top 5 high level process failures that 
stand in the way of you achieving your AIM?  
WHAT‐ Defining Our Drivers
 Order recorded accurately
 Pizza needs to be made timely
 Sufficient number of  delivery drivers
 Vehicles available and fully operational
 Getting to the delivery location efficiently
Simplified FMEA
(Failure Mode Effect Analysis)
 Create a high level process map/flow chart
 Through brainstorming with your team, identify  possible 
causes of failures for each high level process block
 Ideally, you would collect data to identify the frequency of 
each cause
 Ideally, you would rate how critical each possible failure is 
regarding its effect on the desired outcome of the process
 INTERVENTIONS
Process Name: Producing & Delivering Pizza

Prepare Bake Assemble Deliver Collect

CURRENT 

Receive Return to
PROCESS

order ingredients Pizza order order payment Shop

FAILURE MODES
 Process Name: Producing & Delivering Pizza
‐Create a 
INTERVENTIONS

standard ‐Collect 
order form information 
‐Standardize  about 
phone script  delivery 
used with  location
customers
‐Automated ‐GPS for 
Phone menu drivers
CURRENT 
PROCESS

Receive Prepare Bake Assemble Deliver  Collect Return to 

order ingredients Pizza order order payment Shop

-Can’t -Drivers have

understand difficulty
caller finding
-Wrong location
address -Drivers get
recorded lost
-Can’t -Had wrong
FAILURE MODES

handle all the pizza

calls -Ran out of
gas
Small Scale Testing
 Generate a number of ideas‐ involve representatives 
from each group that will either be involved in the 
testing or will be impacted by the change
 Identify which ones are testable
 Test those that are related to your drivers
 Study the results
HOW‐ Improving Our Delivery
 Order recorded accurately
 Standardize script to collect information from customer
 Standardize order entry form 
 Pizza makers will know where to find requested toppings and 
any special instructions
 Automated phone menu
 Route delivery orders to one line, pick up orders to a different 
line
HOW‐ Improving Our Delivery
 Getting to the delivery location
 Standardize script to collect information from customer
 Clarify apartment, house, business, etc.
 Collect phone number for follow up if needed
 Provide maps/GPS for drivers
Documenting Our Journey
Pizza Deliveries by Month
100%

80%
 Delivery
% Delivered On Time

Changes
60%  Order
Entry
Changes

40%

20%

0% Jan '13 n=98 Feb '13 n=120 Mar '13 n=110 Apr '13 n=102 May '13 n=98 Jun '13 n=91

% On Time 65% 72% 80% 87% 90% 95%
Target 95% 95% 95% 95% 95% 95% 95%
 How is our process different now?

Receive  Mix Bake  Assemble  Deliver  Return

Pizza Collect 
Order Ingredients Order Order to Shop
Payment

Placement,  Placement, 
Use script,  Order of Use of  
Order of
order form Ingredients Travel Aides
Supplies
 How Elements From The Home Visit Become Quality Indicators

introducing program
Tools (Family Success Report, Home visit takes place goals and completing
Forms Calendar, Home Visit Paperwork from visit is
with a blend of appropriate forms and
Planning Guide, etc.) are used to collected accurately as
curriculum, interacting inventories.
prepare for each home visit indicated by the
with child, developmental period

Reports are created by Using data collected over time,

analyzing the data entered One month after the
home visitor reviews the
into the database. Sixteen developmental period is
scores and outcomes
Quality Indicators complete, the home visitor Home Visitor enters
associated with the forms and
summarize achievement of celebrates the age based information into
inventories collected. She
the age based milestones milestones achieved with database timely and
takes this information in
for the eligible families at the family. accurately
addition to the curriculum and
each agency. Additionally plans for the next home visit.
data is analyzed for
achievement by the
35
system.
Make it easy to do the right thing
Minimize steps to accomplish task but 
maximize opportunities to avoid system 
failures
Build redundancy into the system‐ protect 
against single component failure
Final Thoughts…
 Have clear identification of process owners and steps 
to success
 Analyze process outcomes, not just final goal.  Process 
matters!
 Be transparent‐ we are learning our way into a new 
system, failures or learning opportunities are to be 
expected!
For More Information
 Contact your DOHVE Liaison
 http://www.mdrc.org/dohve/dohve_resources.html