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 Upcoming NACCHO Webinar: The Cat's Out of the Bag: PHAB Beta Test Sites Share their Stories
The Public Health Accreditation Board's (PHAB's) beta test of the voluntary national accreditation program has officially come to a close. With much anticipation, public health agencies nationwide are ready to hear from the 30 public health agencies that have firsthand experience with the PHAB accreditation process. NACCHO's next webinar, The Cat's Out of the Bag: PHAB Beta Test Sites Share their Stories, will provide a platform for two beta test sites, a small local health department (LHD) and a state health department, to share their insights. These agencies will reveal what they learned during the beta test including the value of accreditation, the process used to undertake the self assessment and site visit, specific tips for both small and large health departments, and lessons learned along the way.This free webinar will be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 from 2:00pm-3:30pm ET and registration information can be accessed here. Please note registration is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis. Please email Pooja Verma at pverma@naccho.org or call (202) 507-4206 with questions. |
Submit your Model Practices to NACCHO
 NACCHO's Model Practice Program honors and recognizes outstanding local health practices from across the nation and shares and promotes these practices among LHDs. Model and promising practices cut across all areas of local public health. Model Practice applications open today, Monday, Oct. 11 and will be accepted through Friday, Nov. 12, 2010. All applications must be completed online. Please click here to submit your practice or to browse existing model or promising practices.
This fall NACCHO encourages all LHDs that have implemented practices which (1) address the needs of identified populations; (2) promote and foster collaboration; (3) ensure the effective use of resources; and (4) provide framework for the development of future programs with the potential of more successful outcomes to apply for a model or promising practice award. The Accreditation Preparation and QI Team encourages you to submit relevant accreditation initiatives or QI projects. Please contact Maggie English at menglish@naccho.org or 202-463-8174 with questions. |
The Quality Improvement Quick Guide from PHF
The Public Health Foundation (PHF) released a free, web-based Quality Improvement (QI) Quick Guide designed to help public health practitioners determine which resources to use while pursuing QI initiatives within their organizations. This resource first assesses individual familiarity with QI concepts, identifies needs, and then recommends QI resources tailored to specific needs and experience levels. The QI Quick Guide consists of a QI User Guide and a Tutorial that both link to a personalized selection of hundreds of resources geared towards improving public health practice. To access the QI Quick Guide, click here. You can also e-mail PHF_Resources@phf.org to suggest a resource or contact Julia Gray at jgray@phf.org with questions. |
NACCHO Media Outreach Guide: Share your Accreditation Prearation & QI Stories
The media serves as an excellent vehicle for LHDs to promote accreditation efforts. Those interested in accreditation can use the media to increase support from target audiences and to spread the word once accredited. NACCHO has developed a media outreach guide to assist LHDs in working with the media to develop strategies and gain visibility for agency activities. This comprehensive guide offers tips on developing a robust media strategy and suggestions on how to effectively engage the various media outlets in your community. Contact Alisa Blum at ablum@naccho.org or (202) 507-4277 with questions. |
APHA Annual Meeting Sessions
Many sessions at this year's American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting focus on  accreditation, QI and performance standards. The conference takes place on November 6-10, 2010 in Denver, CO. Conference participants will be able to hear the latest information about accreditation from PHAB as well as learn about QI success stories at LHDs and state health departments across the country. NACCHO has put together a list of sessions relevant to these topics. More information can be found at APHA's conference webpage. |
PHAB "Word on the Street"
 In PHAB's latest newsletter, the organization answers some important questions about the accreditation process. PHAB has learned from the beta yest process that health departments can be working on various parts of the process, even while PHAB is making changes to the documents and tools. For health departments who anticipate applying for accreditation in the future, PHAB recommends working diligently on the following:
- Appoint an Accreditation Coordinator and create a department-wide team.
- Review the documentation requirements for the measures and note where your LHD is "up to speed." This means dating agendas, communications, and policies as they are developed; signing and dating contracts; keeping sign-in sheets for various trainings; and creating an electronic filing system to store information so that it can be easily found during the self- assessment.
- Begin/refine work on the pre-requisites: Community Health Assessment; Community Health Improvement Plan; Agency Strategic Plan.
- Prepare documentation according to the concepts embedded in the current measures and guidance, but not according to the specific measure number.
Contact Donna Davis about this or any other information in PHAB's "Word on the Street" at ddavis@phaboard.org or (773) 778-4549.
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