Panel Discussion

Beginning in 2011 state and local public health departments will be able to participate in the first ever voluntary national accreditation program for health departments. As the national program approaches, health department staff are exploring ways to prepare their agencies for national accreditation. One method states are using is to conduct an assessment of their public health system capacity and performance using the National Public Health Performance Standards (NPHPS). Based on the Essential Public Health Services, the NPHPS provide a framework for assessing and improving public health systems, of which health departments are a key partner. The presentations in this session will describe the experiences of states that used the NPHPS, how they used their results to improve their health departments and health systems, and how they will apply this information toward preparing for national accreditation.***In 2007, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and several local health departments within the state undertook the NPHPS assessment. Over the last several months the health departments have made it a priority to utilize their assessment results to develop quality and performance improvement activities and prepare for the national accreditation program. Ms. Koester will share the strategic quality improvement (QI) processes that Indiana has developed and implemented to prepare for accreditation, including convening an advisory team to oversee activities, holding trainings around team building and problem solving tools such as root cause analysis, and developing evidence-based project charters to guide activities. .*** The Arizona Department of Health Services undertook the NPHPS assessment in 2008 for several reasons. The department was ready to update their strategic plan and wanted to use the assessment results to develop baseline data and to facilitate quality improvement efforts within the department. Arizona DHS also desired to foster and improve collaboration with their public health system partners. The department also planned to use the assessment results to prepare for the national accreditation program. Throughout this process, Arizona DHS was fortunate to have strong support from their state health official and the managers within the department. This presentation will describe the successes and challenges that Arizona faced to achieve these goals of quality improvement, partner collaboration, and accreditation preparation.*** With the unique organization of their governmental structure, the District of Columbia’s Department of Health contemplated about which of the NPHPS instruments to use – state or local – for assessing their public health system. After careful thought, they implemented the state instrument to help them better understand how their public health system operates, inform the strategies and policies of their health system initiatives, and to mobilize community-based partnerships and alliances. The DC Department of Health will use their assessment results to identify opportunities for strengthening their public health system and prepare for national accreditation.

Session Objectives: 1. Provide examples of the benefits of using the NPHPS assessment and how the NPHPS can help prepare health departments for national accreditation. 2. Identify the quality improvement processes that Indiana implemented following their NPHPS assessment and how those processes are being used to prepare for national accreditation. 3. Describe how the NPHPS results were used to inform the Arizona health department’s strategic plan and how the plan is being used to prepare for national accreditation. 4. Discuss the actions that are being taken to improve the DC public health system as a result of their assessment.