Nationally Accredited
Public Health is a nationally accredited health department as designated by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). PHAB was created to serve as the national public health accrediting body and is jointly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Accreditation and recognition provide a means for health departments to build capacity in key public health areas.
What is Public Health Accreditation and its Purpose?
- Public health accreditation through PHAB is the measurement of health department performance against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused, and evidence-based standards.
- The goal of the national public health department accreditation program is to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of all health departments in the United States – Tribal, state, local and territorial.
- Accreditation helps public health departments assess their strengths and areas for improvement so they can continually improve the quality of their services and performance.
- Accreditation promotes consistency across the country through health departments meeting standards. As more health departments become accredited, the public will soon be able to receive the same quality, foundational public health services wherever they go in the United States.
The Need for Public Health Accreditation
- Public health departments provide primary and expert leadership in protecting and promoting the health of people in communities across the country. They offer critical services like vaccinations, food inspections, health testing and screening, and much more.
- Despite that critical role, there had not been nationally recognized standards for public health departments before PHAB. People expect their hospitals and schools to be accredited. Their public health department should be too.
- The national accreditation program sets standards towards which the nation’s more than 3,000 governmental public health departments can continuously work to improve the quality of their services and performance.
Benefits of Public Health Accreditation
- Demonstrates accountability and credibility to everyone with whom the health department works— the community, elected officials, funders, and partner organizations.
- Drives health departments to continuously improve the quality of services they deliver.
- Gives the health department a framework for setting priorities and effectively allocating resources.
- Provides valuable, measurable feedback to health departments on their strengths and areas for improvement so that they can work to better protect, promote, and preserve their community’s health.
- By continuing to improve the quality of their services, health departments can be sure they are meeting the needs of their community as effectively as possible.
Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB)
- The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is the non-profit organization that administers the national accreditation program for Tribal, state, local, and territorial health departments.
- PHAB launched the national public health accreditation program in September 2011.
- To receive accreditation, a health department must undergo a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer-reviewed assessment to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures.
- The accreditation program is supported by public health leaders and practitioners from the national, state, and local levels and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- PHAB’s mission is to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, strong infrastructure, and innovation.
- PHAB is home to the Public Health National Center (PHNCI) for Innovations whose focus is on empowering health departments to drive change and improve health through innovation. PHNCI is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and CDC.
