Accreditation is currently a voluntary process and applies only to the Public Health Unit of the Essex County Health Department.
WHAT IS IT? Accreditation is the recognition of achievement by a national entity (the Public Health Accreditation Board) against a set of practice-focused and evidenced-based standards.
WHY DO IT? The process of being accredited and maintaining this status ensures our performance –
- Efficiency—Do more with less
- Effectiveness—Improve outcomes
- Accountability—Improve communication & transparency with governing bodies, funding sources, community partners & other stakeholders
- PLUS – it improves our competitiveness for outside funding AND ensures our continuous quality improvement!
WHAT’S THE PROCESS? The process of becoming accredited includes 8 phases and is cyclical. Once we achieve Accreditation, we need to continuously work to maintain this status.
More About Each Phase
1. Pre-Requisites
MUST HAVE ADOPTED (done!)
- Community Health Assessment
- Community Health Improvement Plan
- Department Strategic Plan
2. Pre-Application
MUST HAVE IN PLACE OR SUBSTANTIALLY DEVELOPED (done!)
- Quality Improvement Plan
- Performance Management Policy/System
- Branding Strategy
- Workforce Development Plan
- Emergency Operations Plan (Continuity of Operations Plan)
3. Application
COMPLETE APPLICANT TRAINING & SUBMIT FEES (done August 2017!)
4. Document Selection & Submission
MUST PROVIDE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION/EVIDENCE of practices that meet standards in 12 Domains & submit to the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). (done August 14, 2018)
5. Site Visit
PHAB REPRESENTATIVES CONDUCT A SITE VISIT to review documents in person, ask questions and create a report of the site visit assessment. (done April 3 & 4, 2019)
6. Determination
PHAB ACCREDITATION COMMITTEE MAKES A DETERMINATION of Accreditation status based on the Site Visit assessment report. (pending)
7. Reports
MUST SUBMIT ANNUAL REPORTS TO PHAB FOR REVIEW.
8. Re-Accreditation
ACCREDITATION IS MAINTAINED FOR 5 YEARS. After this time the Department must re-apply and go through this process again.