Panel Discussion

The National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP) is a National Partnership initiative that has developed three instruments for state public health agencies, local public health agencies, and local public health governing bodies, to collaboratively assess the performance of the public health system. Since its release in 2007, over 390 users have utilized the NPHPSP tool to: improve public health communication and collaboration, educate participants about public health interconnectedness, strengthen the network of public health partners, identify system strengths and weakness, and provide benchmarks for public health practice improvements. Recognizing that the field of public health is ever evolving, in early 2011 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched a re-engineering initiative to streamline and update the standards contained in the assessment tool as well as develop a suite of complementary materials to assist with using the tool. In addition, the re-engineered standards have a strengthened linkage with Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) accreditation. After several workgroup meetings and rounds of revisions with NPHPSP end users, the CDC field-tested the updated performance standards with a cohort of state and local health agencies in the fall of 2011. Currently, the CDC is finalizing the re-engineered version of the NPHPSP assessment and anticipates releasing the tools for widespread use in late 2012. In this session users will share their experience in participating in the NPHPSP version 3.0 field testing process and discuss lessons learned. Presenters will also highlight the new components of the version 3.0 tools and provide insight on how their agencies are using the results of their assessment to develop various agency strategic plans, implement quality improvement, and prepare to seek accreditation.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe how a state or local health agency can organize and execute a successful NPHPS assessment process. 2. Articulate how using the NPHPSP assessment tool can assist a state or local health agency to prepare for PHAB accreditation, identify quality improvement opportunities, and develop agency-wide strategic documents. 3. Identify the differences between NPHPSP V2 and V3, and describe how the newer tool is more streamlined and reflective of health agency needs.