Getting Ready for Accreditation: How 16 states in the MLC are Preparing for and Contributing to the National Voluntary Accreditation Program for State and Local Health Departments

Lead States in Public Health Quality Improvement is the third phase of the Multi-State Learning Collaborative (MLC). The program, which builds on the momentum of two previous MLC initiatives, brings state and local health departments together with other stakeholders including public health institutes, health care providers and universities to improve public health services and the health of their community by implementing quality improvement practices. In addition, each of the 16 participating states is required to take steps to prepare for as well as contribute to the national voluntary accreditation program currently under development and scheduled to launch in 2011.

The presenters in this session will introduce the MLC project, the movement towards voluntary national accreditation within the public health community, and describe how the 16 participant states in the MLC are playing a major role in this process.

Selected participant states will share their specific goals to prepare for and contribute to accreditation including such efforts as developing and implementing communications plans to further the accreditation effort within their individual states, educating local stakeholders, and utilizing existing assessment tools such as the NACCHO Operational Definition and the National Public Health Performance Standards Program assessments to explore capacity and readiness for national accreditation. Additionally, the states will demonstrate the importance of conducting quality improvement activities on identified areas for improvement.