[March 25, 2015]  – The Michigan Health Improvement Alliance, Inc. (MiHIA) is welcoming visitors from the National Quality Forum (NQF) to discuss and share information on population health initiatives being implemented in the 14-county MiHIA region. MiHIA was selected in 2014 by NQF as a test site for their Action Guide, a toolkit designed to promote collaborative efforts in regional system change.

NQF officials Debra Burns (Minnesota Department of Health), Shelley Hirshberg (Leadership Coach and Social Entrepeneur), Allen Leavens (Senior Director, National Quality Forum), and Zehra Shahab (Project Analyst, National Quality Forum), will be in attendance at MiHIA’s Share Fair: Population Health Initiatives in Our Region, held March 31, 2015, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Saginaw/CMU Horizon Center.

“I am very much looking forward to learning more about MiHIA’s regional approach to population health,” says Debra Burns.  “It’s really important for us that we learn from and share successful models so they can be replicated or adapted in other places.”

“I am thrilled to be on this site visit to MiHIA,” adds Shelley Hirshberg, NQF Population Health Steering Committee member. “I know we will receive valuable and expert input to the NQF Action Guide improvement process”.

Burns, Hirshberg, Leavens, and Shahab hope to learn more about the numerous health improvement activities underway in the MiHIA region. They will be interacting with local organizations and agencies to learn how groups developed health improvement priorities, selected performance targets, and are planning for sustainability.

“We are thrilled to have been selected by the National Quality Forum to test out the Action Guide,” says Dr. Cathy Baase, MiHIA Board Chair and Global Health Director for The Dow Chemical Company. “We’re proud of the collaborative approach we’ve established in our region to improve population health, and our entire partner network is looking forward to additional capability we can gain with use of the Action Guide.”

Community members interested in attending the Share Fair are welcome.  There is no charge to attend.

“MiHIA’s Population Health team represents the collective impact infrastructure needed to actually effect change within our region,” says MiHIA CEO Beth Roszatycki. “Our partners’ individual efforts are increasingly aligning and resourcing more effectively. This is the path to truly bettering population health in our region.”