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| NACCHO's Accreditation Preparation and Quality Improvement Newsletter |
May 2008
Vol. 3 |
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Greetings!
Welcome to the third edition of accreditNATION, NACCHO's periodic Accreditation Preparation and Quality Improvement Newsletter! You are receiving this newsletter as you previously expressed interest in national accreditation.
Through this e-newsletter we will share:
- Resources to prepare for accreditation and engage in quality improvement activities,
- Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) updates, and
- Spotlights on local health department accreditation preparation efforts
If you received this as a forward and would like to sign up to receive future newsletters, click "Join Our Mailing List!" below. | |
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COMING UP! Public Health Grand Rounds: Standards, Accreditation, and Improvement - Raising the Bar of Public Health Performance
Groundbreaking work is occurring to develop a voluntary national accreditation program for state and local public health agencies. The national accreditation model, which was developed through a practice-driven model and was heavily endorsed by the field, has led to the creation of the new Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). The national accreditation program, slated to be launched in 2011, emphasizes quality improvement in public health practice.
This Public Health Grand Rounds program will provide information about national and state efforts in accreditation and improvement as well as provide on-the-ground insight into what it really means for a local health department. It will discuss the specifics of how the processes, tools and resources from the North Carolina accreditation experience, and other states, can be applied across the nation to improve health for all. The panel also will reflect on the relationship with current national initiatives such as the National Public Health Performance Standards Program.
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| THIS JUST IN! Sixteen States Funded to Advance Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Public Health Agencies
Sixteen states have been selected to lead a national initiative to advance accreditation and quality improvement strategies in public health departments. Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin were selected from a pool of 25 applicant states to improve the performance of their local and state public health departments and the health of their communities. The program, called Lead States in Public Health Quality Improvement: a Multi-state Learning Collaborative (MLC) builds off the momentum of two previous MLC initiatives that explored accreditation and quality improvement and helped shape the recommendations that established the Public Health Accreditation Board.
Each of the sixteen states has been awarded a three-year grant of up to $150,000 per year to implement projects that will help address specific health outcomes like decreasing the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases or reducing the burden of illness due to tobacco or alcohol usage. Additionally, states will address how they deliver public health services. For example, states may focus on improving how they provide culturally appropriate services to their community, how they collect and use health data or how they integrate customer service into public health programs.
 The program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and managed by the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the Public Health Leadership Society (PHLS). To learn more about the program, please visit www.nnphi.org/mlc. |
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT! Sullivan County Looks Ahead to Accreditation, TN
 In 2003, the Sullivan County Regional Health
Department in Tennessee (SCRHD) performed a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis to consider current and future challenges and set an appropriate direction accordingly. Internally, Health Director Gary Mayes--along with SCRHD leadership--felt that accreditation would be an important achievement in the future, but that a more immediate goal was needed for improving performance. Out of this was born an interest in the Malcolm Baldrige National Criteria for Excellence. Coincidentally, the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE) had adapted the Baldrige criteria for local health department use. TNCPE is a state-based program nearly identical to Baldrige, developed to help make Tennessee a competitive market for business. Read the SCRHD case example to learn about how SCRHD is working to meet the TNCPE criteria and implement a culture of quality improvement while looking ahead to national accreditation in 2011. To find out more about SCRHD efforts and other accreditation-related activities, visit the NACCHO interactive map. |
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ASTHO Identifies State Health Department Responsibilities
 The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) has worked closely with NACCHO to support the creation of Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) standards for voluntary state and local public health agency accreditation. One of the key elements of PHAB's standards work has been the adoption of NACCHO's Operational Definition standards as a framework for PHAB accreditation standards. In support of PHAB's development of standards, ASTHO and NACCHO staff reviewed the NACCHO Operational Definition standards from the point of view of state public health. This resulted in a revised list of Operational Definition standards that served both state and local health interests. This set of standards was shared with the PHAB standards workgroup for review and evaluation. In a similar manner, ASTHO matched selected survey results from ASTHO's recent survey of state health agencies with the PHAB domains. A summary of the survey results can be viewed online here.
ASTHO and NACCHO share a mutual commitment to our members to assure that the voice of practice is fully addressed in the development of standards (and ultimately measures) for voluntary agency accreditation. For more information about ASTHO's work on voluntary accreditation or the ASTHO survey, please contact Jim Pearsol at jpearsol@astho.org, Lindsey Caldwell at lcaldwell@astho.org, or Michael Dickey at mdickey@astho.org. |
| A Message from the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB)
 Begin to prepare for national accreditation now! The Public Health Accreditation Board Standards Development Workgroup has been hard at work developing standards for use in the national voluntary accreditation program and will be asking for your review and comments of the draft standards during August, September and October. The workgroup's intent is to develop standards that will promote credibility and value; facilitate a simple, streamlined process; and increase the visibility of and support for accredited health departments.
When the workgroup has completed its work on the draft standards, PHAB will make them available in hard copy and on our web page. Your review of the drafts is a critical part of the standards development and the more feedback from you, the better the standards will be. You will be able to submit comments to PHAB in writing, online and during discussion groups that are being planned in conjunction with other public health meetings. Please contact Evelyn Fine, Director of Communications, at efine@phaboard.org for more information or to arrange a discussion session at your meeting this fall. Please visit our current site for updates www.phaboard.org and if you want to sign up for our e-newsletter, please contact ayates@phaboard.org. |
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Journal of Public Health Management and Practice
 The July/August 2007 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice focuses on accreditation of public health departments. This special issue contains articles and commentary written by public health efforts, and focuses on national accreditation, state-based programs, accreditation preparation, research, and other topics related to accreditation. Through the generosity of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this issue is available online free of charge. |
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Overcoming Challenges with Community Health Assessments Webcast
The May 19 webcast, entitled "Overcoming Challenges with Community Health Status Assessments," is archived online and available for free viewing here. This 90-minute webcast, hosted by NACCHO's Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) project, focused on common challenges that arise in conducting community health status assessments. Speakers, Julia Joh Elligers (MAPP Senior Analyst, NACCHO) and Lisa Lehman (Managing Partner, Holleran) described the assessment process and discussed effective approaches to addressing common challenges with data collection, analysis, management, and application. | |
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