PERFORMANCE MEASURES A MISSOURI WIC PROJECT

PURPOSE Performance Measures is a collaboration between the State WIC office and Local WIC Providers to focus on improving services and improving health outcomes of WIC participants.

OBJECTIVE “In order to improve something you have to be able to change it. In order to change it you have to be able to understand it. In order to understand it you have to be able to measure it. What gets measured, gets done.” -An Expert

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:  Measure agency improvement;  Are able to compare data to agencies that are similar in a specified category;  Allow more timely data thru quarterly reports;  Track behavior changes in charts and graphs;  Allow revisions to strategies that don’t provide results; and  Highlight and share best practices.

PROJECT HISTORY  A workgroup of State WIC staff and local agency staff initially met in June  After much discussion the group developed a list of measures that could use MOWINS reporting already in place.  Breastfeeding, Nutrition, and Administrative Indicators were included.

PROJECT HISTORY  Guidelines for tracking and revising targets and strategies in an online application were discussed.  A pilot project was implemented with five local WIC agencies in January  Pilot agencies are receiving quarterly reporting and are sharing information between the 5 agencies.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES 1. To increase the percentage of infants that are breastfed at birth; 2. To increase the percentage of infants who continue to breastfeed at 3 months of age; 3. To increase the percentage of infants who continue to breastfeed at 6 months of age;

PERFORMANCE MEASURES 4. To decrease the percentage of children age 2 – 5 whose BMI for age is > 85 th percentile to <95 th percentile; 5. To decrease the percentage of children age 2 – 5 whose BMI for age is > 95 th percentile; 6. To increase the percentage of prenatals enrolled in WIC in the 1st Trimester;

PERFORMANCE MEASURES 7. To decrease the number of voided checks that are redeemed; 8. To increase the Administrative Monitoring Scores by increasing adherence to program policies and regulations; and 9. To increase the Nutrition Monitoring Scores by increasing adherence to program policies and regulations.

IMPLEMENTATION  The decision was made to use Healthy People 2020 targets for state targets.  Each agency sets their own agency’s target for each measure.  An online system would show the state and the agency targets and current percentages (using quarterly reporting) in tables, charts and/or graphs.

IMPLEMENTATION  Quarterly reporting with charts/graphs shows progress with ability for comparison to agencies that are similar in a category.  This would allow agencies to highlight and share best practices.  The intent of the State WIC agency is not to tie Performance Measure progress and/or improvement to funding.

HOW IT WORKS  Graphs show the agency's target for each measure and explain the data and how it is reported; as some administrative issues are not tracked thru MOWINS.  Bars are added to the graphs at each quarter of the fiscal year with data reported from MOWINS.  LWPs have the option of revising targets and/or strategies at each quarter.

HOW IT WORKS  Revisions to targets and strategies are tracked to determine progress and to highlight successful efforts that can serve as a model for others.  An online application for Performance Measures Reporting and Tracking is still in the development stage.

HOW IT WORKS FY13  In FY13 Performance Measures will be an optional project---a good time to learn how it can work for your agency.  Agencies will manually enter targets (the % written in objectives in the LAP) for each measure in a new Online Performance Measures application.

HOW IT WORKS FY13  Quarterly graphs and reports will be available in the Online Performance Measures application.  In FY13 an agency may only see their own reporting and comparison to the target set by the agency.  Local agencies may enter revisions to targets and strategies at each quarterly reporting.

HOW IT WORKS FY13  At the end of FY13 procedures, measures, and reporting will be reviewed for revisions to be implemented in FY14.  This revision process requires local agency input for successful implementation.

HOW IT WORKS FY14  The plan is for performance measures to be a part of the LAP in FY14---as the Needs Identification currently appears.  Local agencies will enter Targets instead of Objectives in the LAP (the target is the % previously written in the objectives).  Strategies will remain a part of the LAP and will initially be entered in the LAP.

HOW IT WORKS FY14  Measures, targets and strategies entered in the LAP will automatically roll from the LAP to the Online Performance Measures System.  Quarterly graphs and reports will be available in the Online Performance Measures System.  Graphs and reports may be available by a participation size, district, or other specific categories.

HOW IT WORKS FY14  From that point local agencies may enter revisions to targets and strategies at quarterly reporting in the Online Performance Measures System.  The Needs Identification will remain in the LAP, as other areas currently shown may need agency focus.  At each fiscal year end, measures will be reviewed for revision.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact:  Betty Cassidy  Rita Arni