Bimonthly Quality Improvement Forum calls allow APHL members to share quality improvement activities and learn new techniques. Contact
Tina Su to add your email address to the distribution list and receive call information.
May 2016- Emergency Use Authorizations
Presentation description: Celia Hagan, APHL Public Policy senior specialist, covered the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) authority around diagnostic devices relevant to public health laboratories. The call provided an overview of EUA, EUA authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the issuance process, a case study of Zika EUA and the role of APHL and public health laboratories.
May 2016 - Work Time Units Discussion
Presentation description: Kathryn Wangsness, chief of the Office of Laboratory Services at the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory and Donna Ferguson, Monterey County Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director, led a discussion on work time units. The topics that were covered specifically on this call are how laboratories were dividing the work amongst the staff, despite workloads and QA/QC requirements, and how much time laboratories are setting aside for QA/QC/competency assessments relative to routine work.
February 2016 - Training Non-laboratory Professionals
Presentation description: Roberta Bartholdi, director, QA of the South Carolina Bureau of Laboratories, shared how she improved patient care by training non-laboratory professionals. Bartholdi also covered how she identified those collecting laboratory specimens for county health departments, pinpointed areas that needed improvement, developed trainings and created a system for continuous monitoring of training.
November 2015 - Individualized Quality Control Plan (IQCP)
Presentation description: Mary DeMartino, quality assurance division director at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute, illustrated examples of how her laboratory incorporated IQCP (prior to the release of any guidance or tools), specifically with the Cepheid GeneXpert MTB/RIF test. Topics covered were the process used to choose the tests for which IQCP would be implemented, the risk assessment process, and creation of the quality assurance plan and quality assessment.
August 2015 - Root Cause Analysis
Eleanor Williams, quality assurance group manager, Laboratory Services Section, Texas Department of State Health Services, shared her experience with using a thorough root cause analysis to develop effective corrective actions. Topics covered included deciding when to initiate a root cause investigation, using a team approach to conduct the investigation, overcoming common obstacles and developing effective corrective actions.
June 2015 - Quality Indicators
Presentation description: On the June 2015 Quality Improvement Forum call, examples of indicators chosen by PHLs and lessons learned were shared. Indicators and activities were shared by Dr. Zenda Berrada, director, San Mateo County Public Health Laboratory and Claudia Rogers, laboratory supervisor, Wyoming Public Health Laboratory.
April 2015 - Core Functions Overview
Presentation description: Dr. Burt Wilcke, associate professor, Department of Medical Laboratory and Radiation Sciences at the University of Vermont and the Core Functions workgroup chair, presented on the history of the Core Functions document, its importance to the public health laboratory system and ties to the 10 Essential Public Health Services.
February 2015 - Orange County L-SIP Strategic Plan
Presentation description: In March 2014, Orange County was the second local member to complete a local Laboratory System Improvement Program (L-SIP) assessment. Julia Wolfe, coordinator for Orange County’s post-L-SIP assessment activities, presented on the Orange County Health Care Agency L-SIP Strategic Plan for 2014-2016. Her presentation covered prioritized essential service outcomes, laboratory quality improvement committee-assigned projects, QI groups representing clinical, environmental and molecular epidemiology, and challenges with keeping staff and partners on track with project goals.
December 2014 - North Carolina L-SIP Experience
Presentation description: Dr. Leslie Wolf, PhD, coordinator for the L-SIP assessment, presented "The NC L-SIP Experience," covering lessons learned from planning to post-assessment activities.
October 2014 - Tulare County Public Health Lab's Lean Journey
Presentation description: Denise Lopez, the public health laboratory manager and ELAP director at the Tulare County Public Health Laboratory, presented "Out of the Valley of Despair: The Tulare County Public Health Lab's Lean Journey." Her presentation covered challenges and successes laboratory staff have faced as they continue shifting towards a team-based culture as the vehicle for ongoing continuous quality and efficiency improvements using Lean. She also presented examples of how various Lean tools were used to choose and complete projects. Lopez is the first APHL member to be Lean certified through the APHL-sponsored Lean Certification pilot program.
July 2014 - Building an Outreach and Training Program in Indiana
Presentation description: Jyl Madlem, the laboratory program advisor, and Shelley Matheson, the state training coordinator, presented "Building an Outreach and Training Program; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Their presentation covered how Indiana started their outreach and training program and improved upon it over the past six years. They also described what worked and what didn’t, how they adjusted when things went wrong and how they celebrated when things went right.
May 2014 - Creating Process Improvement Teams
Presentation description: Lorelei Kurimski, director of the Office of Organizational Development, and Rachel Greenberg, a first-year public health program associate for CDC, presented on creating process improvement teams. During their presentation, they covered the steps taken to create process improvement teams, and share facilitation and organizational tools and lessons learned.
March 2014 - New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory Division Training Program
Presentation description: Gary Oty, director of the Office of Quality, Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness, presented on how job-specific annual trainings are given to staff members as suggested by regulations, certifying/accrediting agencies or internal policies. He also touched upon how training needs are identified.
January 2014 - City of Milwaukee Laboratory Post-L-SIP Assessment Activities
Presentation description: Steve Gradus and Sanjib Bhattacharyya, from the City of Milwaukee Laboratory, presented on new research, workforce committee activities and internal quality improvement initiatives resulting from their 2010 L-SIP assessment.
November 2013 - Making Changes After a Risk Assessment
Presentation description: Charlene Thomas, the laboratory manager in the Alabama public health laboratory’s Quality Management Division, discussed how to invoke change after a risk assessment and how to compile information, measure findings and communicate results/changes to staff with training and rewritten SOPs.
September 2013 - New Features in ISO 15189: 2012
Presentation description: Dr. Robert Rej, director of Clinical Chemistry and Hematology at the Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research of the New York State Department of Health, presented the major features of the third edition (15189:2012) and highlight areas where it differs substantially from earlier editions.
July 2013 - State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa Strategic Planning
Presentation description: The speaker is Lorelei Kurimski and she directs and oversees multiple programs within the State Hygienic Laboratory including strategic planning/deployment and Lean/systems improvement. The presentation provided an overview of these topics as well as examples of the key activities needed to sustain and manage your plan. In addition the presentation covered how to maintain dynamic functionality, and how to incorporate Lean, Malcolm Baldrige, and L-SIP.
May 2013 - Quality Assurance Planning
Presentation description: John Shalkham, director of quality assurance at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, presented a basic overview of terminology associated with Quality Laboratory Service and reviewed the construction and/or update of a quality assurance plan.
For more information contact, Tina Su, MPHSenior Specialist, Laboratory Systems and Standards, 240.485.2729,
bertina.su@aphl.org