The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) administers the national public health accreditation program, providing health departments with a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused, and evidence-based standards to assess strengths and weaknesses, improve accountability and performance, and ultimately deliver better services and strategies to their communities. To evaluate the value and impact of the accreditation program, health departments are surveyed by PHAB at five milestones: after completing the Readiness and Training process, after becoming accredited, one year after becoming accredited, four years after becoming accredited, and after becoming reaccredited.

Once a year, PHAB publishes findings from the previous year’s evaluation results in our Value and Impact report. Highlights from this year’s report include the following:

• Quality improvement is consistently cited as one of the top motivators for applying for accreditation as well as one of the most commonly cited benefits. Among health departments accredited for one year, 100% agree that accreditation has stimulated quality and performance improvement opportunities within their health department.*
• Accredited health departments require a workforce development plan to assess organization-wide competencies and capacity, address gaps, and identify strategies for improvement. Among health departments accredited for one year, 93% agree that accreditation has improved our department’s ability to identify and address gaps in employee training and workforce development.*
• Accreditation helps health departments incorporate health equity into their practices internally and externally, positively influencing community health outcomes. 80% of health departments accredited for one year report that have applied health equity to internal planning, policies, or processes.*
• Accreditation establishes clear standards and expectations, ensuring that health departments are responsible for delivering essential services to their communities. Health departments accredited for one year report strengthened internal and external accountability – 93% report improved accountability to external stakeholders.^
• Accreditation prioritizes continuous learning, evidence-based practices, and data-driven decision-making. Among health departments accredited for one year, 93% agree that accreditation has increased their department’s use of evidence-based practices for public health programs and/or business practices.*
• Accredited health departments experience improved utilization of resources and competitiveness for funding opportunities. 71%^ of health departments accredited for one year report that accreditation has improved the utilization of resources within their department and 38%** report that accreditation has resulted in new funding for their department.

Interested in learning more about the value and impact of accreditation? Read the full report here.

Source: PHAB One Year Post-Accreditation Survey; *N=15; ^N=14. **N=13

Britt Lang, MA, MPH, is a Senior Research Specialist at the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). In that role, they conduct internal and external research and evaluation activities related to PHAB operations. Prior to joining PHAB, Britt was the Senior Research Coordinator for the Division of Family Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, conducting research on contraception, miscarriage management, and abortion care. They hold a master’s degree in public health from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in English from Temple University, and an undergraduate degree in English from The College of New Jersey.