Case Study: San Bernardino County Public Health achieves transparent, staff‑driven SMART goals and measurable performance tracking with Tyler Technologies

Setting Both SMART and Lofty Goals in San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, a 900‑person agency with a roughly $1M annual program budget, faced the common public‑sector challenge of turning lofty strategic aims (like increasing physical activity or improving food safety) into measurable, actionable work while securing staff buy‑in and public accountability for its 2015–2020 plan.

The department empowered staff to write SMART goals and launched a Socrata‑powered public performance portal, HealthSmart, with simple status labels, automated charts, and easy access to raw data—backed by a roadshow to build engagement. The approach drove concrete improvements (for example, restaurants showing safe‑handling improvement rose to 83% vs a 75% target), produced iterative fixes for goals still “needs improvement” (e.g., breastfeeding rates via PDSA cycles), and increased staff ownership, transparency, and data‑driven collaboration.

San Bernardino County Public Health

Trudy Raymundo

Director