文章基本信息

标题：Public Health Department Accreditation Implementation: Transforming Public Health Department Performance
本地全文：下载
作者：William J. Riley ; Kaye Bender ; Elizabeth Lownik 等
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2012
卷号：102
期号：2
页码：237-242
DOI：10.2105/AJPH.2011.300375
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：In response to a call for improved quality and consistency in public health departments, the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is leading a voluntary public health accreditation initiative in the United States. The public health department accreditation system will implement a comprehensive set of standards that set uniform performance expectations for health departments to provide the services necessary to keep communities healthy. Continuous quality improvement is a major component of PHAB accreditation, demonstrating a commitment to empower and encourage public health departments to continuously improve their performance. The accreditation process was tested in 30 health departments around the country in 2009 and 2010, and was launched on a national level in September 2011 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. ACCREDITATION IS A WELL -established process for improving performance within organizations 1 and takes place when a formal authority concludes that an organization meets predetermined standards. 2 In the health care field, the Joint Commission and National Committee for Quality Assurance are long-standing, respected accreditation authorities recognized for establishing standards and advancing quality through accreditation of health care organizations. 3,4 Initiatives undertaken in 4 states—North Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, and Illinois—have demonstrated the relevance and usefulness of similar accreditation systems in public health. 5–8 Important lessons have been learned from these programs about the need for and development of a national public health accreditation system. Nonetheless, despite state examples and the critical role of public health in the health of the nation, no national accreditation organization has been established to ensure public health department standards of performance, until now. Public health department accreditation has become one of the most important initiatives in public health today, representing the culmination of many years of collaboration and research. Leading this initiative is the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the continuous quality improvement of state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments through accreditation. 9 The goal of the PHAB, set by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is to ensure that 60% of the US population is served by an accredited health department by 2015. 10,11 Achievement of this goal is expected to promote and protect the health of the public by advancing the performance of state, tribal, territorial, and local public health departments. 9,12 We have provided an overview of the voluntary national accreditation program led by the PHAB, the current status of accreditation, and a roadmap for next steps that will be undertaken in the transformation of public health quality in the United States.