Public Health Intersection

As the Public Health Accreditation Board, (PHAB), begins the beta testing of a national accreditation program, www.phaboard.org

As work continues on the various iterations of the National Public Health Performance Standards Program, (NPHPSP), www.cdc.gov/od/ocphp/nphpsp

As efforts continue with initiatives like Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships, (MAPP), and Community Balanced Scorecard, www.naccho.org/topics/infrastructure/mapp, www.rtmteam.net

What’s a local health department to do?

I suggest that they think of them as an insurance policy.

In an increasingly competitive environment, it is important to demonstrate worth and value in a way that is consistent and credible.

The above mentioned efforts and initiatives, if utilized properly, represent an opportunity to develop a national insurance policy for our nation’s local health departments.

The current efforts can be woven together to demonstrate that;

• What local health departments do is valuable
• What local health departments do is based on best practices
• What local health departments do is unique
• What local health departments do is efficient
• What local health departments do is necessary

As local health departments continue to compete for shrinking resources, the necessity of a compelling business case should become more and more obvious.

Rather than viewing the above mentioned efforts as annoying and intrusive, local health departments should start looking for ways to use them to build stronger and more compelling strategies for making the case for why they;

• Do what no other entity can
• Do it in a credible fashion, based on industry standards
• Do it in an efficient, cost effective fashion
• Have their performance verified through a standard process

They should think of them as an insurance policy