| NACCHO's Accreditation Preparation & Quality Improvement E-Newsletter |
December 2010
Vol. 18 |
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Welcome to the latest edition of accreditNATION, NACCHO's periodic Accreditation Preparation & Quality Improvement E-Newsletter.
For your reading pleasure, articles are now color-coded around their focus: Accreditation (light green), QI (light yellow) or other (light blue). We hope this will help you to quickly identify the topics that will interest you the most. Topics in this issue include:
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 Accreditation Spotlight: PHAB Tribal Standards National Call for Input
 The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) have partnered to improve public health practice in Indian Country. The PHAB Tribal Standards Workgroup has developed a tribal specific set of draft documents, based on PHAB's existing documents for state and local health departments, to ensure cultural relevance, linguistic appropriateness, and inclusion of tribal references where appropriate. Documents are open for public comment December 7, 2010-January 14, 2011 on NIHB's website. Documents will be revised based on public comment and submitted to PHAB's Board of Directors for approval in spring 2011. A webinar on Monday, December 13 at 3:30PM EST, will provide an overview of the standards and measures and tribal changes proposed. Details about the webinar are available here. Take advantage of this opportunity to assist PHAB in refining these standards by providing your input and forwarding this information to your Tribal colleagues. For more information, contact Rachel Margolis at rmargolis@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 Ext. 108.
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Accreditation Spotlight: New Archived Webinar: Beta Test Sites Answer Questions about Accreditation
NACCHO recently hosted a webinar titled "The Cat's Out of the Bag: PHAB Beta Test Sites Share their Stories." Two Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) beta test sites, Norton County, KS and the Iowa Department of Public Health, provided insight from the self-assessment and site visit processes. Participants were able to get answers to many common questions including how to select documentation and how to build staff engagement around accreditation . A free archived recording of the webinar is available online along with recordings of all of NACCHO's accreditation & quality improvement (QI) webinars. |
QI Spotlight: Upcoming Webinar about Public Health Research to feature QI Content
In an upcoming webinar hosted by Academy Health, public health faculty and professionals will share lessons learned about translating findings in a way that resonates with key stakeholders, particularly those who conduct the business of public health. This webinar will feature PHAB Board Chair, William Riley discussing his work developing a pilot program to expand the use of continuous quality improvement (CQI) principles to public health agencies, with a focus on reducing health disparities.
The webinar is Thursday, December 16 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, registration is free, and available here. For additional information, e-mail HRSmethods@academyhealth.org. |
Prerequisite Spotlight: Strategic Planning Resource from the South Central Public Health Partnership
The South Central Public Health Partnership (SCPHP) offers public health professionals free Internet-based trainings on a range of public health topics. If your agency is pursuing national accreditation and needs support with developing a strategic plan, one of the prerequisites for accreditation, the "Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Systems Approaches" training provides enrollees with strategic analysis and planning skills that have proven useful in creating strategic plans for local health departments. To enroll in this free training, click here or e-mail trdirect@tulane.edu with questions. |
QI Spotlight: Multistate Learning Collaborative National Webinar 
On December 17th at 12:00-1:30 p.m. ET, The National Networks for Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) will host the first of a two-part webinar series: The MLC: A Story of Progress with Hopes of Sustainability. This webinar will feature Lee Thielen and Les Beitsch, public health leaders who have guided the Multistate Learning Collaborative (MLC) project since its inception in 2005. They will explore how the teams in the 16 grantee states have played a key role in shaping the growing movement toward voluntary accreditation and quality improvement in public health. Highlighting specific examples, our presenters will share practices that the states have employed to prepare for accreditation and implement quality improvement to address specific public health issues.
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QI Spotlight: ASTHO Performance Improvement Webinars
 The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) website has a series of archived webinars focused on QI and accreditation readiness in public health agencies. Though designed for state health agencies, LHDs may find these webinars useful. Topics include key concepts in QI, building QI into agency culture, and tips on applying for accreditation. To access this free webinar series, click here. E-mail Joya Coffman at jcoffman@astho.org with questions. |
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