Accreditation and QI, North Carolina

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In 2002, the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation program (NCLHDA) was established to improve and protect the public's health by assuring North Carolina's local health departments (LHDs) can perform core functions and essential services, as well as encourage the development of performance improvement activities. The core functions of Assessment, Policy Development, and Assurance, plus additional benchmarks addressing Facilities, Administrative Services, and Governance, are defined as three standards consisting of 41 benchmarks and 148 activities. These standards and benchmarks meet requirements of North Carolina's public health statutes and are aligned with the NACCHO Operational Definition of a Functional LHD. The program standards and benchmarks have been codified as Rules under the North Carolina Commission for Public Health, and the process to become accredited includes:

1. An agency self-assessment;
2. A site visit conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of peer reviewers; and
3. Adjudication by the Accreditation Board.

LHDs that do not fully meet the standards may receive conditional accreditation, and must develop a Corrective Action Plan that is to be completed within two years. As of July 2009, 50 LHDs have been accredited in North Carolina.

North Carolina has been a participant in the Multi-State Learning Collaborative (MLC) initiative since its first phase began in 2005. The North Carolina Collaborative includes the following partners: the North Carolina Department of Public Health, the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, and the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors. North Carolina's MLC work focuses on quality improvement strategies to enhance the work of public health departments.