Frequently Asked Questions
National Public Health Accreditation and MDH
1. What is the purpose of the national accreditation program?
National public health accreditation aims to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of state, tribal, and local health departments. Accreditation will drive public health departments to continuously improve the quality of the services they deliver to the community (Source: PHAB).
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2. Why now?
Public health departments play a critical, but often unrecognized role in promoting and preserving the health of people in communities across the country. Despite the important role health departments play in our communities, there has not been a national system for ensuring their accountability and quality – until now. Other community services and organizations have seen the value of accreditation, such as schools, day care centers, police departments and hospitals. Now, there is an opportunity for public health departments to measure their performance, get recognition for their accomplishments and demonstrate accountability within their communities. Also, as the public health field faces increasing challenges from epidemics and disaster preparedness, it is more important than ever that systems are in place to ensure their effectiveness and quality of services (Source: PHAB).
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3. Minnesota is already recognized nationally for its great work. Why will MDH apply for accreditation?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and other national public health leadership organizations have been very supportive of national public health accreditation as a way to ensure quality and visibility of public health departments. MDH has received an infrastructure grant from CDC that supports MDH to seek accreditation, and to increase organizational capacity and commitment for quality improvement projects.
The Commissioner of Health is advised by the State Community Health Services Advisory Committee (SCHSAC). SCHSAC approved the recommendations of its Performance Improvement and Accreditation Work Group, which included:
- that local public health performance improvement system should be aligned with the national standards, and
- that MDH should lead the way by preparing for state-level accreditation, and seeking voluntary national accreditation at the earliest opportunity (no later than 2013).
For the full text of the Performance Improvement and Accreditation Work Group Report visit:
- National Public Health Standards and Voluntary Accreditation: Implications and Opportunities for Public Health Performance Improvement in Minnesota (PDF: 725KB / 56 pages)
SCHSAC Performance Improvement and Accreditation Work Group, Dec. 2010
MDH will join many of its peer state health departments across the country in seeking accreditation.
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4.What are the anticipated benefits of accreditation?
Accreditation is considered a "next step" in Minnesota's ongoing effort to improve the quality and performance of the public health system. Establishing consistent program performance expectations and related measurable indicators could promote consistent and improved public health practice in Minnesota.
The external validation and objective feedback could have significant potential to accelerate performance improvements throughout our health department.
MDH will position itself to capitalize on anticipated funding preferences for accredited state health departments. Going through the process will also point out areas for improvement and MDH may be able to better frame grant proposals to lift up and address those gaps.
The process will provide MDH an opportunity to think about what business it does and how it does that business given the challenging times. Accreditation may raise the visibility of public health issues and provide a point of entry for decision-making discussions involving public health.
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5. Who at MDH will be involved with preparing the MDH accreditation application?
Pulling together the evidence and documentation needed for accreditation will be complex, but MDH has a plan to move things forward:
- The MDH Health Steering Team will provide leadership and guidance for the accreditation process.
- 12 interdisciplinary Domain Teams will include MDH management and staff from divisions and offices whose work is represented in the domain standards. These teams will collect evidence of MDH's activities that meet the accreditation standards in their assigned domain.
- Staff from the Office of Performance Improvement will provide coordination and support throughout the entire accreditation process. This coordination team will work through the entire process including organizing the site visit, and facilitating an evaluation of the process once complete. This same team is also supporting local and tribal public health departments choosing to pursue accreditation.
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6. What will MDH staff do to support accreditation?
Individual staff may be asked by their supervisor to: serve on a domain team, participate in a quality improvement project, collect documentation or other evidence of MDH activities, or be interviewed during the site visit.
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7. How much will it cost to apply for accreditation?
You can find more information the cost of accreditation at
PHAB: Fee Overview [Attn: Non-MDH link].
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8. When will national accreditation start for health departments?
PHAB released the final Standards and Measures [Attn: Non-MDH link] in July 2011. Applications for accreditation will open in October 2011.
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9. How long does health department accreditation last?
PHAB has adopted a five-year accreditation cycle.
- More Information: PHAB Guide to National Public Health Department Accreditation [Attn: Non-MDH link]
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10. Who developed the accreditation standards, measures, and processes?
PHAB's Board of Directors and the PHAB Standards Development Workgroup, along with significant feedback from public health leaders and practitioners, developed the standards, measures and processes that were formally adopted by PHAB's Board in August 2009.
PHAB held a public vetting process on the draft standards which resulted in a tremendous amount of feedback from the public health field. PHAB received 4,000 individual comments, online surveys and group feedback forms. The Standards Development Workgroup reviewed all public comments thoroughly and is grateful for the invaluable feedback provided by all who participated in the public vetting process.
In addition, PHAB administered a beta test of the accreditation process with 30 state, local and tribal health departments of various sizes. MDH's Director of Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives, Pat Adams served as a site visitor during the beta test and actually reviewed one state health department's accreditation application and documentation. After going through this process, her site visitor group evaluated the experience and gave suggestions to PHAB for improvement of the standards and site visit processes (Source: PHAB).
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11. How does PHAB differ from JCAHO and AAAHC accreditation?
All three types of accreditation aim to promote quality of services and performance, based on a national set of standards, but differ in the types of entities eligible to apply and the types of services to be improved by standards. Each accrediting body is a unique entity that has different policies, procedures, standards, methodology for revising its standards, length of awarding accreditation, etc.
- JCAHO: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations,
- AAAHC: Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care
[Attn: Non-MDH links]
