Advancing the quality and performance of state and local public health departments: A voluntary national accreditation program

In September 2005, the 25-member Steering Committee for the Exploring Accreditation project began developing recommendations for and examining the feasibility and desirability of a voluntary national accreditation program for state and local public health departments. The Steering Committee's decisions were informed by the work of four workgroups in the areas of governance and implementation, finance and incentives, research and evaluation, and standards development. In addition, extensive feedback was received through a public comment period which also helped inform the final decisions for the national program. After several meetings and deliberations, the Steering Committee developed a model for the national program and determined that it was feasible and desirable, and should therefore be implemented. The goal of the national program is to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of state and local public health departments.

In the fall of 2006, ASTHO and NACCHO began leading efforts with APHA and NALBOH to begin implementing the voluntary national accreditation program, including forming a new non-profit entity, developing standards, and engaging in research and evaluation activities.

This session will describe the potential impact that a national accreditation program can have on quality and performance improvement for health departments, the progress that has been made with establishing the new program, and the timeline for getting it started.