Greetings from PHAB,
 
In her national bestseller, Go for the Goal: A Champion's Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life, soccer star Mia Hamm writes: "Celebrate what you've accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed."
 
PHAB is a strong believer in celebrating and acknowledging important milestones and recognizing those who made those milestones possible. In 2016 we will highlight many of our milestones in the accreditation journey. For example, very soon we will celebrate reaching the milestone of 100-plus PHAB-accredited health departments. And in early 2017, when reaccreditation is launched, we will recognize PHAB's 10th anniversary as the nation's public health department accrediting body. And there are more milestones to come. Over the next year we will lay the foundation for the work of PHAB's new Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI); finish the development of reaccreditation; enhance many of our communications and training opportunities; and wrap up our work on the development of an accreditation product for health departments serving fewer than 50,000 people and/or with 10 or fewer full-time employees. In each of these examples, we will celebrate the work that led us to these opportunities while we continue to raise the bar with the next iterations.
 
In thinking about how all of our work is done, I recently came across a promotional flyer from a business and was struck by a comment it contained: "A partnership can make a huge difference; help us to help others." PHAB is only as strong as the partners and stakeholders that have consistently worked with us to make PHAB what it is today and what it will be in the future. I am continually impressed by the thoughtful and deliberate attention that our Board members, site visitors, health department applicants, partners, committees, and think tank members give to accreditation in the collegial spirit of making it all it can be. In this newsletter you will read more about many of the activities and strategies that are coming together to make all of that happen. Partnership and collaboration is the glue that holds PHAB's work together and makes what we do meaningful for the practice of public health in the United States.
 
We thank each of you for the parts that you play in making these milestones meaningful.

Issue #61

January/February 2016

In This Issue
PHAB BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PHAB in ACTION
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
PHAB STAFF CORNER
WORD ON THE STREET

 Kaye Bender, PhD, RN, FAAN

President and CEO
PHAB BOARD OF DIRECTORS: News & Notes 
 
PHAB Board of Directors Meets December 9 -10, 2015
The PHAB Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting at PHAB's Alexandria, Virginia, offices on December 9-10, 2015. During the meeting, the Board:
  • Continued its work on the development of PHAB's business plan for the next three years;
    Completing his term as Chair of PHAB's Board of Directors in December, Les Beitsch, right, receives an honorary crystal gavel from incoming Board Chair Bud Nicola.
  • Discussed and approved general concepts to guide the development of the reaccreditation process;
  • Discussed the recent evaluation of the Centralized States Integrated Local Public Health Department System model for accreditation;
  • Approved a new fee structure for accreditation, to become effective July 1, 2016;
  • Discussed, along with representatives from NORC at the University of Chicago, the impact of the Affordable Care Act on health departments;
  • Discussed the current state of public health in conjunction with a presentation on the topic by APHA Executive Director Dr. Georges Benjamin;
  • Discussed the relationship between PHAB as an accrediting body and its new work under the Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI);
  • Reviewed and approved PHAB's recent audit, which was once again a "clean" audit of PHAB's financial operations;
  • Reappointed PHAB Board Members Ed Harrison, Bill Riley, Harvey Wallace and Les Beitsch to new terms;
  • Reappointed Paul Halverson, Joe Finkbonner, Chris Atchison, and Burt Wilcke to the PHAB Accreditation Committee;
  • Appointed Torney Smith, Gretchen Sampson, Claudia Blackburn, Georgia Heise, and Joan Ascheim to serve on the Accreditation Improvement Committee, working on reaccreditation;
  • Elected Bud Nicola to serve as the new Chair of the PHAB Board of Directors; and
  • Expressed appreciation for a job well done to outgoing Board Chair Les Beitsch.

More details on many of these items are provided in various sections of this newsletter. PHAB continues to appreciate the dedication and hard work of its Board of Directors.


PHAB Board of Directors Approves New Five-Tiered Fee Structure
With this newsletter, PHAB announces the upcoming implementation of a new fee structure to manage and maintain the national accreditation process. Approved by PHAB's Board of Directors in December 2015, the new five-tiered structure bases accreditation fees on the size of the jurisdictional population served by the health department. Applicants who submit an application as a Tribal, state, local, or territorial health department after June 30, 2016 must use the new five-tiered fee schedule.
 
Applicant fees are necessary for PHAB to provide quality services to both applicants for accreditation and accredited health departments. The accreditation fee a health department pays supports the assessment of health department applicants against nationally adopted standards and measures and provides the health department with a full suite of ongoing accreditation services. The accreditation fees do not support the full PHAB operations.
 
PHAB's five-tier accreditation fee schedule is totally new and is based on models similar to other accrediting organizations. Applicants who will be affected by the new fee structure should not compare this structure with the previous fee schedule since this one has been developed with different concepts in mind.
 
As has been done in the past, an updated fee amount under this structure will be published annually. For more information or to discuss your specific fee questions, please contact PHAB Chief Administrative Officer Mark Paepcke at [email protected] or via phone at 703-778-4549, ext. 104.
PHAB in ACTION

PHAB Team Visits Taiwan
A three-member PHAB delegation recently served as guest faculty for a Public Health Organizational Capacity Building Workshop in Taipei, Taiwan. Participating in the Dec. 18-19, 2015 visit were PHAB Immediate Past Board Chair Dr. Les Beitsch, PHAB Education Specialist David Stone, and PHAB President and CEO Dr. Kaye Bender. Dr. Shu-Ti Chiou, Director General of the Health Promotion Administration at the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare, supported PHAB's participation in order to discuss performance improvement for Taiwan's public health operations. In addition to the workshop, the PHAB team visited with a number of public health professionals in their work settings.
 
"The PHAB team knew that we would find a well-organized, dedicated public health staff based on what we had already learned from an earlier visit to the PHAB offices by a Taiwan delegation," Dr. Bender said. "But seeing it all in action was truly amazing. PHAB appreciates the opportunity to continue this work with our new partners."
 
Pictured above, the PHAB delegation meets with the leadership team of the Taiwan Health Promotion Administration prior to the start of the December 18-19, 2015 workshop in Taipei, Taiwan. 

Dr. Shu-Ti Chiou, Director General of the Taiwan Health Promotion Administration, Taiwan Ministry of Health, welcomes participants to the Public Health Capacity Building Workshop in Taipei, Taiwan, on December 18, 2015.  

PHAB's Taiwan delegation joins workshop participants in giving a "thumbs-up" to the idea of strengthening Taiwan's public health organizational capacity for the future.


PHAB Begins the Process of Designing Reaccreditation for Health Departments Accredited Under Version 1.0
PHAB has started the process of designing the national public health department reaccreditation process for health departments accredited under Version 1.0. As with all of PHAB's developmental endeavors, we are implementing a developmental process that involves engaging experts from the field and vetting proposals with the entire public health community.
 
Many accreditation organizations implement a process of totally repeating the initial accreditation requirements for their reaccreditation. However, PHAB has determined that a verbatim repeat of the process and requirements of initial accreditation would not further PHAB's goal "To improve and protect the health of the public by advancing and ultimately transforming the quality and performance of state, local, Tribal and territorial public health departments." PHAB's intention is that reaccreditation encourages accredited health departments to become increasingly effective at improving the health status of the population. This is the part of PHAB's goal statement for the role of accreditation in transforming health department performance.
 
Therefore, PHAB proposes that reaccreditation be fundamentally different than initial accreditation in both the process and the requirements. Reaccreditation will build on the initial accreditation that demonstrated that the health department has processes in place and has capacities. Reaccreditation will focus on demonstrating performance, continuous quality improvement, and transformation.
 
Of course, health departments will be expected to continue to be in conformity with the PHAB Standards and Measures for initial accreditation. But the process of gathering and submitting documentation for each measure will not be repeated. Health departments will also be required to demonstrate conformity with new requirements that have been adopted in PHAB's Standards and Measures, Version 1.5, for those health departments accredited under Version 1.0.
 
Importantly, health departments will be expected to demonstrate growth in their culture of continuous quality improvement and accountability. The process and requirements will be focused on the demonstration of growth in quality improvement and accountability, with a special focus on the health departments' work in improving the health status of the communities they serve.
 
PHAB's Accreditation Improvement Committee (AIC) will guide and direct the development of the reaccreditation requirements and process. The 12 members of the AIC are seasoned representatives of state and local health departments. The proposed requirements and process will be made available to the public in the summer of 2016 for vetting, i.e., review and submission of comments and suggested revisions. PHAB will also provide educational and vetting opportunities at national meetings, as may be appropriate.
 
A final reaccreditation set of requirements and the reaccreditation process will be adopted by the PHAB Board of Directors in December 2016. The requirements and process will be made public at that time. The e-PHAB module for reaccreditation will be developed and finalized during the first half of 2017. The e-PHAB reaccreditation module will be available for health departments seeking reaccreditation during the second half of 2017. Reaccreditation applications for the first group of health departments will be due in February 2018. The fees for reaccreditation for this group will be published along with the requirements.
 
Questions about the development of the reaccreditation process or requirements should be addressed to PHAB Chief Program Officer Robin Wilcox at [email protected], or via phone at 703-778-4549, x106.
 
PHAB's 12-member Accreditation Improvement Committee met January 20-21, 2016 at PHAB's Alexandria, Va., office. The committee is guiding and directing the development of the reaccreditation requirements and process.  


PHAB's Evaluation and Quality Improvement Committee Welcomes New Members
PHAB's Evaluation and Quality Improvement (EQI) Committee met Dec. 1, 2015 at the PHAB office to provide PHAB with feedback on various evaluation and quality improvement activities as well as to review recent annual reports. PHAB welcomes Dr. Ron Chapman as a new committee co-chair with Dr. Bill Riley. In addition, three new members of the committee were welcomed: April Harris, MPH, CHES, Accreditation and Quality Improvement Coordinator, Three Rivers District Health Department, Kentucky; Jaime Dircksen, AM, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health, Illinois; and Robert Hines, Jr., MSPH, ASQ, CQIA, Performance Improvement Manager and Accreditation Coordinator, City of Houston Health and Human Services Department, Texas.

PHAB appreciates the service of former members of the EQI Committee: Lillian Rivera, RN, MSN, PhD, Administrator, Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County; John W. Moran, Jr., MBA, PhD, Senior Quality Advisor, Public Health Foundation; and Jennifer Smith, MSHP, Executive Director, Texas Association of City & County Health Officials.
 
Members of PHAB's Evaluation and Quality Improvement Committee took a break from their important work to pause for a photo on Dec. 1, 2015.  
 
 
Public Health National Center for Innovations at PHAB
The Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI) is a division of PHAB, created to foster the alignment and spread of innovative public health practice to advance a culture of health. Details of our launch were shared in a previous newsletter, and as we continue to systematically build the Center, PHAB will produce a special, PHNCI edition of this e-newsletter to provide updates on our website, Advisory Committee and more. Stay tuned!  
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Public Health Foundation Offers New Tool for Aligning Accreditation Plans
Is your health department preparing for accreditation? A new tool offered by the Public Health Foundation (PHF) can help you coordinate the elements of the numerous plans required for accreditation, even if they are not being created simultaneously. PHF's new Crosswalk for Aligning Accreditation Plans tool provides guidance on where PHAB Standards and Measures are reflected in each of the required plans, and how the plans are interdependent. The crosswalk is an important element of Aligning Accreditation Plans, PHF's on-site service that supports the use of a performance management system to track and report on progress from all the plans in a coordinated, responsive approach that advances the strategic objectives in the separate plans. Click here to download the tool and learn more about PHF's Aligning Accreditation Plans services.


APHA Announces 2016 Accreditation Grant Recipients
The American Public Health Association (APHA) has again awarded funding to help its affiliated state and regional public health associations prepare their Tribal, state, local, and territorial health departments for PHAB accreditation. Awarded by APHA with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, the funds will fuel the APHA affiliates' efforts to provide technical assistance and support to health departments working toward accreditation. The innovative activities funded include developing a learning collaborative for statewide partners to share accreditation resources and best practices; conducting statewide trainings and workshops on areas of need that will lead to accreditation; developing an online accreditation portal for public health and policy-makers; and guidance for local health departments to develop accreditation-focused practicum opportunities for students.
 
Please join APHA in congratulating the following award recipients:
  • Alabama Public Health Association
  • Arizona Public Health Association
  • Colorado Public Health Association
  • Georgia Public Health Association
  • Iowa Public Health Association
  • Mississippi Public Health Association
  • Missouri Public Health Association
  • Montana Public Health Association
  • Ohio Public Health Association
  • Oregon Public Health Association
  • Public Health Association of Nebraska
  • Texas Public Health Association
  • Utah Public Health Association
 
The award recipients began implementing their accreditation readiness activities on December 1, 2015, and will continue their efforts through June 30, 2016. For more information about the accreditation projects, please contact APHA's Melissa McNeily.


National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training at NNPHI Issues Request for Proposals: Modernizing the Nation's Public Health Training Delivery System: An Environmental Scan of Online Training Systems 
The National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training (NCCPHT) at the National Network for Public Health Institutes has issued a request for proposals that seeks an organization or individual to partner with NCCPHT to conduct a rapid and comprehensive environmental scan, including background research and key informant interviews, to develop a complete picture of delivery and dissemination systems for public health training in the United States. The environmental scan will inform NCCPHT and the Health Resources and Services Administration about creating a strategy to connect public health practitioners with training, tools, and resources to advance public health practice. Additional funding may be made available to support development of the strategy. This RFP is open to all organizations and individuals that have experience and capacity to effectively meet project deliverables. If necessary, applicants may partner with other persons or organizations to ensure access to needed content and technical expertise to fulfill the deliverables. Proposals are due February 10, 2016. More information is available here.  

 
COPPHI Open Forum Registration Launches
Registration is now open for the Community of Practice for Public Health Improvement (COPPHI) Open Forum for Quality Improvement in Public Health. The event will take place April 7-8, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Supported with funds from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Open Forum meeting series convenes public health department leaders to explore and shape the meaning of quality and quality improvement in public health practice as part of COPPHI. The Open Forum typically includes up to 300 attendees and is a unique opportunity to learn from leaders in the field of quality improvement for public health and network with your peers. Registration closes on Wednesday, March 9, or sooner if maximum capacity is reached, so be sure to check out this opportunity early! To register, click here. 


Dr. Judith Monroe to Lead CDC Foundation
Judith Monroe The Board of Directors of the CDC Foundation recently named Judith A. Monroe, MD, FAAFP, as the new President and CEO of the CDC Foundation. Dr. Monroe currently serves as Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support (OSTLTS). In her new position, she will succeed current CDC Foundation President and CEO Charles Stokes, who announced his plans to retire from the CDC Foundation last May. Dr. Monroe will assume her new role at the CDC Foundation on Feb. 1, 2016.

Dr. Monroe has served as Deputy Director for OSTLTS since 2010. In this role, she has overseen key activities and technical assistance that support the nation's health departments and the public health system. Before joining CDC, she served as the state health commissioner for Indiana from 2005 to 2010.
 
"I am very excited about this opportunity to work with the board and staff of the CDC Foundation and with partners as we all strive to help CDC do more, faster," Dr. Monroe said in a statement. "I also thank Charlie Stokes for his outstanding efforts in starting and leading the CDC Foundation for more than 20 years. Today, public-private partnerships between the government, private and philanthropic sectors are crucial to improving health outcomes for people in America and around the globe. Together, we can do so much more than any of us can do alone."

Read the full announcement here. 
PHAB STAFF CORNER

PHNCI Welcomes Travis Parker Lee
Long-time PHAB staff member Travis Parker Lee will assume the position of Program Specialist for the Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI) effective April 1, 2016. Travis will lend his variety of skills to PHAB's newest division as we create the various aspects of that work over the next few years.

PHAB appreciates the past work that Travis has done in supporting the development of the accreditation program and looks forward to working with him in his new role -- just down the hall in PHAB's Alexandria, Virginia, offices!   
 
WORD ON THE STREET: A Round Up of Accreditation Questions & Answers

1. I heard that I should not use Internet Explorer 11 browser on my computer when working in e-PHAB. Why and what browser should I use instead?
 
Please do not use Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) when working in e-PHAB. Text entered in e-PHAB using IE11 does not always save correctly. This is caused by a problem with IE11; PHAB cannot do anything to fix the issue because it is a problem with IE11 and not e-PHAB. PHAB suggests using a different browser when working in e-PHAB, such as Chrome or Firefox. Internet Explorer versions 9 and 10 (IE9 or IE10) remain compatible with e-PHAB. If your IT department has already upgraded your system to IE11 and you cannot use an alternate browser please contact your Accreditation Specialist. She can walk you through how to revert IE11 back to IE10 for e-PHAB.

PHAB suggests that you use one of the following internet browsers instead of IE11:
 
Other versions, or browsers not listed, are not optimized for e-PHAB.
Additional technical requirements for e-PHAB include:
  • JavaScript must be enabled
  • Cookies must be enabled
  • Pop-up windows are used, so pop-up blockers must be disabled
  • Computer monitor resolution of at least 800x600 is required, but 1024x768 or larger is preferred.
2. Our work to meet Measure 3.2.2 (Organizational branding strategy) has resulted in a new logo for our LHD. However, our old logo still appears on many pieces of documentation. How should we address this in order to assure evidence of authenticity? Should we hold off on rolling out the new logo until we upload everything into e-PHAB? Should we go ahead and use the new logo going forward, but explain why the old logo still appears? Or should we go back, revise all documents (if possible), and replace the old logo with the new?

Go ahead and roll out your new logo. Simply explain to your PHAB Accreditation Specialist that some documents have the old logo, but that they are still current and in use by the health department. It would be good to include that in your narratives that accompany the documentation so that the site visitors are clear that you are in transition with the documents. A similar situation has occurred with a couple of other health departments that changed their names mid-process.
 
3. We have a question about our health department website. We have plans to redesign our website. This may take some time, however, and so the screenshots we upload for Measure 3.2.5 now may not be the same as what's live at the time of our site visit. Will this be a problem? Should we aim to completely redesign the website before uploading screenshots into e-PHAB? Should we upload our current website now and explain the change during the site visit? Or, should we hold on redesigning the website altogether until after our site visit?

All of your documentation should be current and in use by the health department when you click the e-PHAB button to submit your documentation to PHAB. The site visitors cannot look at anything that has been created after you submitted your documentation to PHAB and they will assess your conformity with the measures based on what you submitted and not what has been developed more recently. So, you might want to wait until you have the webpage redesigned before you upload the documentation and submit it -- especially if you think that the new website will be assessed as more in conformity with the measure than the old website.

4. Who at PHAB should we contact for specific questions and technical assistance?

You may contact:
 
Mark Paepcke, Chief Administrative Officer, to talk about fees and contractual information, or e-PHAB. He may be reached at [email protected] 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 [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 106.

Marita Chilton, Jennifer Jimenez, Cathy Vogel, or Brittan Wood, to talk about the accreditation process for health departments. Marita may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 114; Jennifer may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 107; Cathy may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 108; and Brittan at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 115.

Jeff Lake, Volunteer Services Manager, to talk about the recruitment, selection, and assignment of Site Visitors and Teams as well as PHAB's Accreditation Reserve Corps. He may be reached at [email protected] 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 [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 105.

Travis Parker Lee, Program Specialist, to talk about meetings, trainings, Site Visitor travel logistics, and requests for speakers. He may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 102.

Genny Lush, Program Specialist, to talk about statements of intent, applications, and accreditation process issues. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549 ext. 113.

Jessica Kronstadt, Director of Research and Evaluation, to talk about public health accreditation-related research and evaluation. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 117.

Teddi Nicolaus, Communications Manager, to talk about news, media requests, marketing, and promotions. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 118.
 
Jessica Solomon Fisher, Chief Innovations Officer, Public Health National Center for Innovations at the Public Health Accreditation Board, to talk about all matters related to the new Center. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 116.
 
Kaye Bender, President/CEO, to talk about accreditation-related strategies, partnerships, long-range planning at PHAB, PHAB Board of Directors, committees/think tanks, and student opportunities. She may be reached at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, ext. 103.

If you have a question for future segments of Word on the Street, please send them to PHAB e-newsletter editor Teddi Nicolaus.

Public Health Accreditation Board
1600 Duke Street
 Suite 200
Alexandria, VA 22314  
Phone: 703-778-4549
Fax: 703-778-4556

For more information, visit www.phaboard.org