The Impact of Public Health Department Accreditation: 10 Years of Lessons Learned

摘要

The July/August 2007 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice described the emerging national accreditation agenda, promising strategies, and the link to quality improvement (QI) and performance management for all public health departments in the United States.1 That same year, the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) was incorporated and began its developmental journey as the national accreditation body for state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments.2'3 During this decade, more than 200 health departments have been accredited, and about that many more are officially going through the process. Accreditation remains voluntary, yet the uptake among health departments has been robust, with accredited health departments in 45 states and the District of Columbia.