Standards

As of July 2011, PHAB has released the following accreditation materials:

• Guide to National Public Health Department Accreditation Version 1.0
• PHAB Standards and Measures Version 1.0
• PHAB Standards: An Overview Version 1.0
• PHAB Standards and Measures Documentation Selection Spreadsheet Version 1.0
• National Public Health Department Accreditation Documentation Guidance Version 1.0
• PHAB Accreditation Fee Schedule 2011-2012
• PHAB Education Services
• National Public Health Department Accreditation Readiness Checklists (PDF or Word)

If you are interested in learning how information and feedback gathered during the beta test and other developmental activities was used to revise the beta test materials, please view the Summary of Revisions to the PHAB National Public Health Department Accreditation Process or the Summary of Revisions to the PHAB Standards and Measures for more information. 

Other supporting materials that will be made available by the end of summer include:

• National Public Health Department Accreditation Acronyms and Glossary of Terms Version 1.0
• e-PHAB Statement of Intent Information
• e-PHAB Application Information

The PHAB Online Orientation will also be made available by the end of summer. Stay tuned for more information!

 
Developing the Standards

At their January 2009 Board meeting, the PHAB Board unanimously approved an initial draft set of standards and measures for vetting. The standards and measures were the products of months of development by a Standards Development Workgroup of state and local public health professionals, national and federal public health experts, public health researchers, and other technical experts. These initial standards and measures were subject to an “alpha” field test with a small group of local and state health agencies, resulting in multiple revisions.

PHAB also encouraged public feedback on the next draft of the documents, and a public comment period took place from February 7 to May 7, 2009. During that time, PHAB received over 4,000 individual comments, as well as other comments through online surveys and group feedback forms. The PHAB Standards Development Workgroup carefully reviewed each comment and, based on the feedback, proposed changes to the documents. The Workgroup's recommended changes were submitted to the PHAB Board of Directors, and in July 2009 they adopted the revised standards and measures for use in the beta test. The accreditation beta test is taking place from fall 2009 through the end of 2010, and will result in further refinement of the standards and processes. All of this feedback will help to shape the final national public health accreditation program, which will launch in 2011.

The development of draft standards and measures was guided by several principles.  The standards and measures should:

• Advance the collective practice
• Be simple and reduce redundancy
• Minimize burden
• Reinforce local and state health departments’ roles and demonstrate shared accountability
• Apply to all sizes and all forms of governance structure
• Be based on American National Standards Institute principles

As of July 2009, PHAB has developed the following draft documents for the accreditation program:

• State and Territorial Health Agency Standards, Measures, and Documentation Guidance
• Local Health Department Standards, Measures, and Documentation Guidance
• Draft Scoring and Weighing
• Glossary of Terms