PHAB e-Newsletter
April 2021
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Greetings from PHAB:
Since our last communication, there have been many exciting developments in public health. As you may recall, PHAB has prioritized advocacy in our 2020-2022 Strategic Plan and taken a more vocal role in advocating for an adequately funded and sustainable public health infrastructure. Strong health departments are essential for health and safe communities and we must begin to shape the narrative about the importance of a strong public health system.
On March 10, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) re-introduced the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act (PHISLA) to establish a dedicated $4.5 billion fund to build and maintain nation’s public health infrastructure at all levels.
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Paul Kuehnert,
DNP, RN, FAAN
PHAB President & CEO
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As vaccinations continue to roll out and our health departments respond to the needs of their communities, we look ahead to an increasing focus on the recovery phase of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Recovery cannot be simply ‘going back’ to pre-pandemic norms. We have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to rebuild public health systems and uplift community well-being across the country. Sustained investment in critical public health infrastructure is essential for all people to thrive.
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Upcoming Events
April 21
Webinar: PHAB Scope of Authority and Process Guidance. Register>
June 7-9
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PHAB Features
by Katie Sellers, Jessica Solomon Fisher, Paul Kuehnert, Brian C. Castrucci
by Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN
by David Stone, MS, CPLP
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Expanded Scope of Authority Policy
On March 23, 2021, PHAB announced that health departments will be able to submit documentation examples from an expanded set of public health programs that highlight population-based interventions within the 10 Essential Public Health Services under the revised Scope of Authority policy.
The expanded scope provides health departments with more examples to use as documentation for accreditation and showcase the robustness of services that the department provides. PHAB accreditation focuses on interventions that affect the health of populations or subpopulations. Although populations are comprised of individuals, the focus of PHAB accreditation is not on services provided to an individual client.
The policy includes an addendum of program and activity examples that are within and outside of PHAB’s scope. Visit PHAB’s website for more information and guidance on PHAB’s scope, including resources to help you navigate the expanded scope. A module has also been published in Bridge to guide users through this change.
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Webinar: PHAB Scope of Authority and Process Guidance
On Wednesday, April 21 at 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET, PHAB will host a two-part webinar with PHAB staff to discuss the Scope of Authority policy and guidance on the scope of examples and documentation for PHAB accreditation. The second half of the webinar will review PHAB’s supplemental guidance that has been in place during the pandemic.
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Accreditation Announcements! |
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First Vital Records/Health Statistics (VRHS) Unit
The South Dakota Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Office of Health Statistics is the first nationally accredited VRHS unit and received initial accreditation status for five years.
"NAPHSIS is thrilled that South Dakota has been the very first state Vital Records Agency to receive accreditation status," said Shawna Webster, NAPHSIS Executive Director. "The Vital Records Standards are an immensely valuable tool when our agency members are faced with emergency operations and challenges of every kind. We cannot wait to celebrate with our members in South Dakota someday soon."
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16 Heath Departments
Sixteen health departments achieved accreditation or reaccreditation status in February.
“Now, more than ever, public health departments are relied upon to respond to public health needs as a result of COVID-19, while at the same time maintaining standard public health services,” said PHAB President and CEO Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN. “We are proud of these health departments and the hundreds of others that have made a commitment to quality and performance improvement through our accreditation process during this unprecedented time.”
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Janalle Goosby, MBA
Communications and Public Affairs Specialist
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Britt Lang, MPH
Research Specialist
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Carrie Thomas, MPH
Accreditation Specialist
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Register for the Virtual 2021 Public Health Improvement Training!
The Public Health Improvement Training (PHIT) will be held virtually, June 7-9, 2021 and will feature skill-building workshops, plenary sessions, townhalls from national partners, and focused networking on public health performance improvement. This year’s theme, Optimizing Your Resources Through Performance Improvement, will highlight the relationship between resource management and performance improvement.
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Call for PHAB Vital Records/Health Statistics Site Visitors!
PHAB is seeking volunteers to serve as site visitors for the Vital Records/Health Statistics (VRHS) accreditation program. Accreditation utilizes a peer-review process, and site visitors play a central and substantive role in that process.
Volunteering as a site visitor is rewarding and provides tangible benefits such as networking with other leaders in public health, enhancing communication skills, and more. PHAB also covers all travel expenses for training and for the site visits. Currently, training and site visits are conducted virtually due to COVID-19.
Visit our website to learn more about volunteering as a site visitor, including requirements and to apply. For questions, please contact Brittan Williams at [email protected] or 703-778-4549, x115.
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Public Health Innovation Showcase & Summit
The 2021 virtual Public Health Innovation Summit & Showcase will take place on September 28 and 29 from 12-4PM ET. The Summit will bring together an intimate group of public health innovators to share and ideate together about how innovation can be used to address the complex challenges in 21st century public health.
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Due to limited space, interested innovators must apply to attend. The brief applications will ask you to describe a bit about who you are and how you are an innovator, detail a creative approach to problem solving, or describe a “failing forward” moment while trying to innovate. |
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Quality Improvement Corner
PHAB is committed to being flexible and responsive as health departments work to navigate this public health crisis. One key requirement for accredited health departments is the completion and submission of the Annual Reports. Effective August 2020, the Section II templates for the Annual Reports were modified to make many questions optional and provide opportunities for health departments to describe their COVID-19 work. This change allows health departments to reflect on the past year’s work, obtain feedback, and serve as a building block for continued growth and preparation for the next year and reaccreditation.
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Insights from an accredited health department
Richland Public Health shares their experience and tools to support QI during an emergency response such as COVID-19.
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A few Annual Report reminders:
- The health department’s Annual Report module will open on the first day of the quarter in which you are accredited/reaccredited. You do not have to wait for the module to open to begin compiling information for the Annual Report.
- Section I of the Annual Report contains three questions.
- Section II of the Annual Report is focused on performance and quality improvement efforts, with the intention of helping health departments consider reaccreditation requirements.
- There is a video posted to Bridge to assist health departments with Annual Report instructions. Templates for each section of the Annual Reports are also posted on Bridge.
- PHAB will be seeking feedback on the Annual Report process in the future. Stay tuned!
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You may contact April Harris, [email protected] for specific questions regarding your health department’s Annual Report process.
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Public Health Accreditation Board
1600 Duke Street, Suite 200 | Alexandria, VA 22314
© 2021 | Public Health Accreditation Board
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