PHAB IN ACTION 

Accreditation Coordinator Training Held in February 

PHAB provided Accreditation Coordinator training February 12-13 in Alexandria, Va., with 15 participants attending. The two-day session covered the important role and functions of the Accreditation Coordinator, including selecting documentation to upload into e-PHAB, as well as how to effectively plan for the total PHAB accreditation journey.

    

Health Equity, Communication Science Topics of Recent Think Tanks

Recent PHAB Think Tanks brought thought-leaders to Alexandria, Va., in January and February, to focus on health equity and public health communication science.

  

Health equity is one of the areas identified to PHAB for consideration for increased emphasis in the revisions to the Standards and Measures. To begin the work, PHAB hosted a Health Equity Think Tank January 30-31. Think Tank participants discussed the relationship between the PHAB Standards and Measures and best practices in health equity for public health; identified concepts, activities, and tools that would strengthen PHAB's guidance for health department documentation related to health equity; and identified strategies to ensure that PHAB has communicated the emphasis on health equity in its accreditation materials. Health Equity Think Tank participants include Sonali Balajee, Ashley Bennett, Rajiv Bhatia, Jeffrey Goldhagen, Margaret Hynes, Ngozi Oleru, Jeannette Raymond, Adewale Troutman, Donald Warne, Leandris Liburd, Liza Corso, Richard Hofrichter, Meenoo Mishra, Pamela Russo, Rex Archer, Wilma Wooten, and Meena Abraham. The group will continue to work virtually as recommendations are developed and finalized. 

  

  

Shown above at PHAB's January 30-31 Health Equity Think Tank are (clockwise from left), Meenoo Mishra, MPH, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Health Equity; Richard Hofrichter, PhD, NACCHO Senior Director of Health Equity; PHAB Board of Directors member Rex Archer, MD, MPH, Director of the Kansas City Missouri Health Department; and PHAB Board of Directors member Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH, Public Health Officer, County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency. Members of PHAB's Board of Directors work closely with the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials to ensure that PHAB communicates the emphasis on health equity in its accreditation materials.

 

  

Another area identified for PHAB consideration in the revisions to the Standards and Measures is public health communication science. With all the changes in digital media, social media, and other modes of communication, PHAB wants to stay current in its expectations of health departments. To begin this work, PHAB hosted a Communication Science Think Tank February 6-7 in Alexandria, Va. Think Tank participants discussed the relationship between the PHAB Standards and Measures and best practices in communication science for public health; identified concepts, activities, and tools that would strengthen PHAB's guidance for health department documentation related to communications and health education; and identified strategies to ensure that PHAB has communicated the emphasis on communication science in its accreditation materials. Participants in the Communication Science Think Tank include Chip Allen, James Apa, Steven Becker, Monique Davis, Susan Feinberg, James Garrow, Robert Gold, Danielle Kenneweg, Alisa Blum, Susan Goekler, Jamie Pina, Russell Rubin, Kristine Smith, Cindy Throop, Rex Archer, and Harvey Wallace. The group will continue to work virtually as recommendations are developed and finalized.

  

  

PHAB hosted a Communication Science Think Tank February 6-7 in Alexandria, Va. Think Tank participants (pictured above) discussed a range of issues, including the relationship between the PHAB Standards and Measures and best practices in communication science for public health.

  

 

PHAB Partners in Maternal Child Health Open Forum

Partnering with the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP), PHAB held an open forum February 11, 2013, as part of the AMCHP Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. More than 60 participants attended the open forum, during which an accreditation update was provided and a discussion of the connection between public health accreditation and MCH program expectations was facilitated. Kaye Bender and Robin Wilcox presented at the forum, and Kathy Vincent facilitated the discussion.

 

 

Halverson Named Founding Dean of Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health

Paul K. Halverson

PHAB Board of Directors member Paul K. Halverson, DrPH, has been appointed the Founding Dean of the new Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

  

The Fairbanks School of Public Health, one of two IU schools of public health created last fall, will focus on the areas of urban health, health policy, biostatistics and epidemiology. With its strong connections to the IU School of Medicine, it will serve as a catalyst to help build a collaborative approach to improve public health.

  

Halverson begins his new role on May 15 and will be responsible for providing the overall strategic vision and leadership for the school. Additionally, he will work to advance research, education and civic engagement, promote initiatives within the IUPUI and Central Indiana communities, and attract and retain highly motivated and well-qualified faculty, staff and students to the school.

Halverson has served as Director and State Health Officer for the Arkansas Department of Health since 2005 under two governors. He also is a tenured professor at the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health and a professor at the College of Medicine, both within the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.  

  

From 2009 to 2010, Halverson served as President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Halverson served as chair of PHAB's Board of Directors in 2009-2010, and presently serves as vice chair of PHAB's Accreditation Committee.

 

 

William Riley to lead new School for the Science of Health Care Delivery

William Riley

William Riley, PhD, immediate past chair of PHAB's Board of Directors, has been named Director of the new School for the Science of Health Care Delivery at Arizona State University.

  

Working to become a model for health outcomes, the new school will foster research and prepare students from a variety of backgrounds to be leaders and innovators in the effort to improve health outcomes that are cost-effective for people and communities. The first program of its kind in the nation, the school will begin teaching students this coming fall. The Master of Science in the Science of Health Care Delivery will be the first degree offered by the school.

    

Riley, who presently serves as Associate Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, has held several leadership positions in the private sector, including President and CEO of Pacific Medical Centers in Seattle, Wash.; CEO of Aspen Medical Group in St. Paul, Minn.; and Senior Vice President of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota.

  

Riley is leading a major, nationwide study to improve perinatal safety in hospitals. He is the co-author of two books, "Managing Healthcare Organizations for Quality Performance" and "Quality Function Deployment and Lean Six Sigma Applications in Public Health."

  

Riley serves as chair of PHAB's Nominating Committee and also serves as the co-chair of PHAB's Evaluation and Quality Improvement Committee. He earned his doctorate at the University of Minnesota. 

PHAB PROGRAM NOTES

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT 

Anne Drabczyk to lead NALBOH  

Dr. Drabczyk brings more than 30 years of public health and leadership experience to her new role. In 2011, she founded A. Drabczyk Consulting, Inc., which specializes in facilitating strength-based strategic visioning and project management. Prior to that, she served as national program director of the Advanced Practice Center Program for the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in Washington D.C., where she led a national initiative to design program prototypes, products, and processes to support best practices to ensure public health workforce development.

Previously, she served as a consultant and principal investigator for Ohio State University College of Public Health, where she developed and executed strategic preparedness initiatives for the Ohio Department of Health. She worked to enable policymakers, community leaders, and stakeholders to understand scientific principles underlying key workforce development issues to build capabilities and expand capacity.  

Dr. Drabczyk holds a doctoral degree in public health from Walden University as well as a master's degree in public health administration from Central Michigan University.

The PHAB Five includes the Association of State and Local Health Officials (ASTHO); the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO); the National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH); the National Indian Health Board (NIHB); and PHAB. The group's January 9, 2013 meeting included a discussion of the questions being asked from the field and discussions of challenges that are being encountered..

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Medicare Data Sharing Program

• Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati
• Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium
• Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation
• Maine Health Management Coalition Foundation

These organizations are now eligible to create comprehensive reports on provider and supplier performance by combining Medicare with other sources of claims data. These reports will assist individuals, consumer groups, employers, and providers in making informed decisions about health care and quality improvement. QEs also gain access to a repository of industry-approved measures in order to assess provider performance within their region. Organizations interested in becoming QEs must undergo an evaluation of organizational capacity and data security prior to authorization to receive and use Medicare data. This process, completed through the Qualified Entity Certification Program (QECP), ensures that QEs have adequate policies and processes in place to support transparency and fairness in public reporting while maintaining privacy and protection of beneficiary data.

Visit www.cms.gov/QEMedicareData for a detailed overview of the Qualified Entity program. For more information, contact Sally Turbyville at sturbyville@impaqint.com, or 202-696-1030. For more information on QECP eligibility criteria and how to become a QE, visit the QECP website at www.qemedicaredata.org, send an email to  support@qemedicaredata.org, or call 1-866-277-9966. Additionally, a "QE 101" webinar will be held on February 26, 2013. The webinar will provide an overview of the Qualified Entity program and highlight application requirements. To participate, send an email to support@qemedicaredata.org. More information on IMPAQ's role in the program and in other public policy initiatives can be obtained by visiting the company's website.

11th Annual Public Health Improvement Training to be Held in April

The 11th Annual Public Health Improvement Training: Advancing Performance in Agencies, Systems and Communities, will be held in Atlanta on April 23-24, 2013. The event will provide training in many areas of performance improvement, including accreditation. Training topics will include QI tools and plans and the prerequisites required by PHAB. The agenda will include learning and skill-building sessions led by content experts and practitioners. Sessions will include assistance with information about preparation and documentation efforts. Accreditation Coordinators are a part of the target audience for the conference. Registration closes on March 28. For more information, visit www.NNPHI.org.  

WORD ON THE STREET: A Round Up of Accreditation Questions and Answers

1. I like the Think Tank process that PHAB has implemented for gathering expert advice to use to develop revisions to the Standards and Measures. I also understand that PHAB has to limit the number of people who meet as a Think Tank so that the discussion is manageable. If I am interested in commenting on their recommendations, how might I do that?

PHAB will consider all of the recommendations developed by Think Tank participants. The recommendations that result in proposed changes to the Standards and Measures will be included in the document that PHAB will post for public vetting in the summer of 2013. We will also provide updates in the newsletter. Stay tuned to the newsletter for ongoing details of the Think Tank work.

If a health department receives notice that the PHAB Accreditation Committee has reviewed the health department's Site Visit Report and has determined that accreditation status cannot be awarded, the health department is required to submit an Action Plan within 90 days of receipt of notification. The Accreditation Committee will also provide a list of opportunities for improvement that the Action Plan must address. The Action Plan must specify the actions and improvements that the health department will implement in order to achieve "Accredited" status. The health department must also specify the amount of time required to implement each action to reach conformity (no more than one year from the date of the approval of the Action Plan). If the Action Plan is approved by the Accreditation Committee, the health department must submit documentation of the completion of the Action Plan by the date agreed on. That documentation will be reviewed. If the Action Plan is not implemented satisfactorily per the Accreditation Committee and accreditation is not achieved, the status of the health department will be "Not Accredited." The Action Plan is PHAB's way of encouraging quality improvement; QI is the cornerstone of PHAB accreditation. The Action Plan provides an opportunity for health departments that need to do more work to be accredited to do so. See the Guide to National Public Health Department Accreditation, Version 1.0, page 23, for more details.

Yes. When you are accredited, you will receive access to a special section of the PHAB website that will contain a toolkit of information to help you plan your announcements and celebrations. PHAB encourages accredited health departments to use this opportunity to promote the good work that they do!

You may contact:

Mark Paepcke, Chief Administrative Officer, to talk about fees and contractual information. He may be reached at mpaepcke@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 104.

Robin Wilcox, Chief Program Officer, to talk about interpretation and meaning of the PHAB Standards and Measures as well as the accreditation process. She may be reached at rwilcox@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 106.

Rachel Margolis, Jennifer Jimenez, Brittan Wood or Marita Chilton, Accreditation Specialists, to talk about the accreditation process for health departments. Rachel may be reached at rmargolis@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 108; Jennifer at jjimenez@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 107; Brittan at bwood@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 115; and Marita at mchilton@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 114.

Jeff Lake, Volunteer Services Manager, to talk about the recruitment, selection, and assignment of Site Visitors and Teams as well as PHAB's Reserve Corps of Accreditation Specialists. He may be reached at jlake@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 110. 

David Stone, Accreditation Education Specialist, to talk about PHAB's education services, including orientations and trainings. He may be reached at dstone@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 105.

Travis Parker Lee, Program Specialist, to talk about meetings, events, and requests for speakers. He may be reached at tlee@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 102.

Jessica Kronstadt, Director of Research and Evaluation, to talk about public health accreditation-related research and evaluation. She may be reached at jkronstadt@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 117.

Teddi Nicolaus, Communications Manager, to talk about accreditation-related news, media requests, and story ideas. She may be reached at tnicolaus@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 118.

Kaye Bender, President/CEO, to talk about accreditation-related strategies, partnerships, long-range planning at PHAB, PHAB Board of Directors, committees, and think tanks. She may be reached at kbender@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 103.

Genny Lush, Office Manager, to talk about general office inquiries. She may be reached at glush@phaboard.org or 703-778-4549 ext. 100.

If you have a suggestion for future segments of Word on the Street, please send them to Teddi Nicolaus