The National Accreditation Program

The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) grew out of the Exploring Accreditation Project, and is the non-profit entity in charge of implementing and overseeing the voluntary national accreditation program for state, local, territorial, and Tribal health departments. Program development began in May 2007 with the incorporation of PHAB, and the national program is being built around the recommendations generated by the Exploring Accreditation Steering Committee. A number of Committees and Workgroups—consisting primarily of public health practitioners—are guiding program development, and accreditation for public health departments will begin in 2011. Visit the PHAB Web site for more information.

NACCHO Supports Voluntary National Accreditation

NACCHO offers assistance to LHDs to: prepare for national accreditation; understand and use quality improvement to meet standards; and improve performance. Additionally, NACCHO coordinates communications to keep LHDs informed of the national program.

NACCHO created a policy statement to support a voluntary accreditation program for LHDs and is committed to assisting those agencies prepare for accreditation.

»	NORC Report: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Rural Public Health Agencies Seeking Accreditation
	With funding from the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers from the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health recently completed an investigation of opportunities and challenges related to public health agency accreditation among rural health departments. A Policy Briefing and a Full Report of the findings are available. Hard copies are available by contacting Michael Meit at meit-michael@norc.org or (301) 951-5076.

Please contact Jessica Solomon with any questions at jsolomon@naccho.org or (202) 507-4265.