|
PHAB E-Newsletter: Special Edition: September 12, 2013
TRANSITION TO STANDARDS AND MEASURES, VERSION 1.5
Briefing and Guidance on the Transition Process and Timing
In this special edition of PHAB's newsletter you will find:
- Information concerning the timing of PHAB's transition from Version 1.0 to Version 1.5 of the Standards and Measures.
- Deadline for health departments that wish to apply under Version 1.0 of the Standards and Measures.
- Considerations for health departments concerning which version of the Standards and Measures to use for their application.
- Background and general information about the development of Version 1.5.
1. PHAB's Transition to Version 1.5
The current version of PHAB's Standards and Measures is Version 1.0. PHAB will release Version 1.5 of the PHAB Standards and Measures on the PHAB website in January 2014. They will become effective for health departments' accreditation on July 1, 2014. Hard copies of the standards and measures will be available July 1, 2014.
2. Deadline for Health Departments that Wish to be Assessed using Version 1.0 of
the Standards and Measures
Health department directors must submit their application in e-PHAB by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on June 2, 2014 to be assessed under Version 1.0 of the Standards and Measures.
This will provide sufficient time for the PHAB review of the application, the health department's correction of any errors noted by PHAB staff, and the final review and acceptance of the application before July 1, 2014. It is necessary to provide this 30 days for the application to be reviewed by PHAB and accepted because historically, 53% of applications have required a change after the PHAB staff review. Health departments that submit their applications on June 3, 2014 or after will be reviewed and assessed using Version 1.5 of the Standards and Measures.
PHAB strongly recommends that health departments wanting to apply under Standards and Measures, Version 1.0 submit their Statement of Intent (SOI) as soon as possible.
That way, the initial step will be complete, the health department will have access to the application form, and the health department Accreditation Coordinator and health department director will have time to complete and submit the application before June 2, 2014. Receiving your SOI also helps PHAB in planning its internal workload in order to serve you better.
3. Considerations Concerning the Versions of the Standards and Measures
PHAB recommends that health departments review the proposed changes to the Standards and Measures before they automatically decide that they will apply under Version 1.0. The proposed changes contained in Version 1.5 include many improvements in clarity of requirements. Also, the topic areas specifically addressed in the proposed changes, while not numerous, are important public health issues. PHAB believes that it will serve many health departments well to wait and apply under Version 1.5.
This next version of the Standards and Measures will be called Version 1.5 because there will not be a complete overhaul of Version 1.0. Version 1.5 is designed to enhance, strengthen, expand, and clarify the Standards and Measures document, including the following:
- Number of Examples needed and Timeframes for each Required Documentation.
- Edits for clarity and consistency, based on frequently asked questions.
- New Measures and revised content to advance public health practice based on suggestions from PHAB Think Tanks conducted on special topics including: health equity, communication science, public health informatics, public health ethics, public health workforce, and emergency preparedness.
4. Background and General Information
Also to be available on July 1, 2014 will be a revised PHAB Acronyms and Glossary of Terms. It will be Version 1.5 of the Acronyms and Glossary of Terms.
It is important to note that, while the Version number of the Standards and Measures and the Acronyms and Glossary of Terms is changing, the version number of all other PHAB documents is not changing. For example, the Guide to National Public Health Department Accreditation in use will still be Version 1.0.
The PHAB Board of Directors appointed an Accreditation Improvement Committee to guide PHAB as we improve and revise the Standards and Measures and the accreditation process. This year, the Committee has been working on the improvement of the Standards and Measures. The work plan that PHAB is following is:
- August 2012 - PHAB's e-newsletter announced plans to revise the Standards and Measures and requested proposed changes from the field. Requests for proposed changes continued in subsequent newsletters.
- June 2013 - The Accreditation Improvement Committee approved changes to Version 1.0 of the Standards and Measures for public review and comment.
- July 2013 - The 30-day public vetting process of proposed PHAB Standards and Measures, Version 1.5 yielded over 400 comments from the public health community.
- September 2013 - The PHAB staff incorporated comments from public vetting into a modified draft of Version 1.5 for review by the PHAB Accreditation Improvement Committee.
- October 2013 - The PHAB Accreditation Improvement Committee will consider all of the comments received from the public vetting period and will make final recommendations for revisions to the Standards and Measures to the PHAB Board of Directors.
- December 2013 - The PHAB Board of Directors will consider the recommendations of the Accreditation Improvement Committee and will approve final changes and adopt Version 1.5.
- January 2014 - An electronic copy of the adopted Version 1.5 of the Standards and Measures will be posted to the PHAB website.
- June 2, 2014 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time - Deadline for health departments to submit Applications and be assessed under Version 1.0 (so that they are deemed complete by July 1, 2014).
- June 3, 2014 - Health departments that apply to PHAB will be assessed under Version 1.5.
- July 1, 2014 - PHAB Standards and Measures, Version 1.5 will become effective and will be available for purchase in a formatted printed version.
For questions about the revisions to the PHAB Standards and Measures, contact Robin Wilcox, Chief Program Officer, at rwilcox@phaboard.org. |
