A National Voluntary Accreditation Program for State and Local Health Departments: Striving for Consensus

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A National Voluntary Accreditation Program for
State and Local Health Departments Striving for
Consensus

• Kaye Bender, PhD, RN, FAAN, Chair Exploring
  Accreditation
• Steering Committee
• kbender_at_son.umsmed.edu
• May 31, 2007
• ACHNE/ASDTN Joint Conference

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Todays Objectives

• Outline the major elements of the final
  recommendations from the Exploring Accreditation
  report
• Discuss the state of readiness in state and local
  health departments
• Describe the partnership contribution to the
  consensus process

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Lets Review How We Got Here
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Goal of a National Program

• to improve and protect the health of the public
  by advancing the quality and performance of state
  and local public health departments

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What does the number 5,000 represent ?
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A Rising Tide

• CDCs Futures Initiative
• Future of the Publics Health in the 21st
  Century (IOM)
• RWJF Key Stakeholder Meeting 2004
• Statewide Accreditation Programs
• Multi-State Learning Collaborative
• Exploring Accreditation Project

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What does the number 540 represent ?
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Public Comment

• Three-month public comment period on proposed
  model
• Multiple feedback opportunities
• Valuable feedback on accreditation benefits and
  problems
• The Steering Committee revised the model based on
  the feedback

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Major Readiness Concerns from the Field

• Hamms Survey Results from State and Local
  Health Departments (2006)
• Exploring Accreditation Website
• General Feedback

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Accreditation is Desirable

• Advancement of quality, accountability and
  credibility
• Promotion of consistency and high performance
• Clarification and articulation of expectations
• Increases evidence base
• Public declarations of interest

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Accreditation is Feasible

• Builds on knowledge and experience
• Strong potential for funding
• Includes technical assistance component
• States experiences

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If accreditation is so desirable and
feasible, why arent we ready to take off?
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Program Structure is Needed

• Governance Issues
• Eligible Applicants
• Development of Standards
• Financing and Incentives
• Accreditation Process
• Evaluation
• Research
• Phased Implementation

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Accrediting Entity

• New, non-profit organization
• Relationships with state-based programs
• Confidentiality

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Governing Board

• Composition
• Major responsibilities
• Standards
• Conformity assessment decisions
• Promote research, training and TA, and positive
  incentives

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What does the number 3200 represent ?
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Eligible Applicants

• Any governmental entity with primary legal
  responsibility for public health in a state,
  territory, tribe, or at the local level

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Standards Development

• Promote pursuit of excellence, improve
  performance, and strengthen accountability
• Consider existing and developing performance
  improvement work
• Use inclusive process to develop and revise

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Standards Development Domains

• Monitor health status and understand health
  issues
• Protect people from health problems and health
  hazards
• Give people information they need to make healthy
  choices
• Engage the community to identify and solve health
  problems
• Develop public health policies and plans

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Standards Development Domains

• 6. Enforce public health laws and regulations
• 7. Help people receive health services
• Maintain a competent public health workforce
• Use continuous quality improvement tools to
  evaluate and improve the quality of programs and
  interventions
• Contribute to and apply the evidence base of
  public health
• Govern and manage health department resources

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Standards Development

• In spite of the whirlwind of standards
  development and testing, there is still some work
  on consensus.

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Financing

• Affordability of fees critical to success
• Accreditation process should be designed with
  cost controls in mind

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Incentives

• Uniformly positive
• Recognize high performance and quality
  improvement
• Demonstrate accountability to the public and
  governing bodies
• Gain improved access to resources
• Be part of a learning community dedicated to
  excellent health outcomes

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Program Evaluation

• Begin in developmental phase
• Logic model provides framework
• Confidentiality of data determined at outset
• Key questions built into evaluation

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How Ready is the National Structure?

• Establish governing board
• Develop detailed business plan
• Set up organization/begin start-up
• Define standards and measures
• Undertake pilot testing
• Phase in accreditation activities

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What does the number5,825 represent ?
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For More Information and to read the final report

• www.exploringaccreditation.org
• Jennifer Jimenez Jessica Solomon
• ASTHO NACCHO
• [phone] [phone] x266