Quality improvement (QI) and accreditation are invaluable within the field of public health in both its development and advancement. According to the Public Health Accreditation Coalition, a group of national organizations that have come together to support and promote public health agency accreditation, quality improvement in public health is “a continuous and ongoing effort to achieve measurable improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, performance, accountability, outcomes and other indicators of quality of services or processes that achieve equity and improve the health of the community.”1 It is necessary, and very much supported within the public health field, for quality improvement to be an integral part of accreditation.
The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), the accrediting organization for national public health accreditation, was incorporated in 2007 and has developed the national accreditation program being launched on September 14, 2011. Even though public health plays a critical role in the United States, there has not been a national accreditation program to confirm that public health departments are providing and constantly advancing the quality of services delivered to their communities, until now.2 State, tribal, and local health departments throughout the country have been experiencing great enthusiasm for this new national accreditation program.
It is important to recognize that when workplaces implement quality improvement practices into their daily work and organizational culture the work environment can thrive, especially within the public health sector. Quality improvement can increase effectiveness and improve the efficiency of work habits, as long as they are rooted within the organizations structure, operations, and function. A continuing process of training and re-training can help ensure quality improvement in the long term.
Through TRAIN (www.train.org), the nation’s premier learning management system designed specifically for professionals who protect and improve the public’s health, individuals and organizations can utilize TRAIN’s features to identify, access, take, and post training on accreditation and quality improvement. All of this is available free-of-charge!!!
The following trainings are a sample of the more than 100 courses focusing on performance/quality improvement available on TRAIN:
· Course ID – 1029493. Webstream/Archived Webcast. Introduction to Performance Management. CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support.
Additional training, including classroom-based training, can be found by logging onto TRAIN (www.train.org) and searching by the keyword “Quality Improvement”. QI training can also be accessed here.
Create a TRAIN account today and learn more about quality improvement!
Beitsch, MD, JD, Leslie M., Ronald Bialek, MPP, Abbey Cofsky, Liza C. Corso, MPA, John W. Moran, PhD, MBA, CQIA, CQM, CMC and William J. Riley, PhD. "Defining Quality Improvement in Public Health." Journal of Public Health Management & Practice. 16.1 (2010): 5-7. Print.