Follow this 7-step guide to successfully navigate the process of achieving PHAB accreditation for your organization. Contact us for more information!
Most healthcare organizations pursue accreditation of one form or another. The types of accreditation vary by healthcare sector, but by and large, the process centers on an in-depth performance review. Itâs not easyâand itâs not something a facility can do once and be done.
Accreditation is a commitment to ongoing strategic planning and performance improvement, as well as measuring and reporting on that improvement to retain accreditation status.
In this article, weâre focusing on the public sector and the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) accreditation process. This brief overview can help your organization learn more about what PHAB has in store for you.
PHAB accreditation involves the âmeasurement of health department performance against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused, and evidenced-based standards.â More specifically, PHAB accreditation requires that applicants meet 32 total standards across 12 domains.
âInitial PHAB accreditation assesses a health departmentâs ability to perform â10 Essential Public Health Servicesâ; it also measures your capacity to manage and communicate effectively with a governing entity.
Accreditation must be achieved within a specific timeframe and maintained year after year. As we mentioned in the introduction, this isnât a âone and doneâ processâit requires continual quality improvement and process development to remain accredited. Health departments can hold the PHAB accreditation for five years and then must reapply.
If your organization is public, it can apply. Local, state, territorial, and tribal health departments are all eligible for PHAB accreditation.
Even if you skimmed everything prior and just saw the image above, itâs still pretty clear that the PHAB accreditation process is a serious commitment. Why would any organization go to all this trouble? Because it works.
PHABâs mission of improving and protecting the public health by transforming healthcare quality and performance is synonymous with the mission of hospitals. In other words, the goals of all parties are aligned. The in-depth self-review thatâs inherent in accreditation has proven to help healthcare departments improve processes, community engagement, quality of care, and patient outcomes.
Also, healthcare organizations that achieve accreditation can qualify for federal funding, and it increases the odds of receiving grants and donations. The additional financial support is a big contributor to providing the best care for patients.
Hold your horses. Before you can even apply for PHAB accreditation, you have to prove youâre capable of undertaking the process.
In this step, a healthcare organization must self-assess its readiness to apply via PHABâs four Readiness Checklists, complete a four-part online orientation, and register with PHAB confirming intent to apply.
The checklists alone require detailed preparation to complete. If your healthcare facility doesnât already have strategic plans and data reporting in place, it could take months to implement processes that make you ready to apply to PHAB.
After successfully passing the trial by fire of pre-application, your health department can formally submit its application and fee. At this point, you will have obtained approvals at the highest level (and well in advance) to pursue PHAB accreditation, demonstrating your rock-solid commitment to this ongoing process.
The cost to apply also ensures this isnât a casual pursuitâinitial review fees range from $14,000 to $56,000, depending on population size. These fees are paid to PHAB and donât include potential fees for third-party consultants.
Applicants must also complete a two-day, in-person training before moving to the next step.
This is where the rubber hits the road. Applicants provide documentation for each required PHAB measure and upload it to e-PHAB for review.
This is one of the most important steps in the process. These documents and metrics prove the health department meets the PHAB accreditation standards; they are what the site team will review during their visit (wait for step four). Applicants have 12 months to submit documentation after completing step two.
Itâs critical for healthcare facilities to use a performance management software like ClearPoint to track and report on required measures. Not only is this type of software a PHAB standard, but it fuels strategic planning and execution outside of the accreditation process.
We've outlined how ClearPoint can simplify this step and make the submission less stressful in our blog 5 Tips For Strategic Planning Professionals in Healthcare.
After initial documentation is submitted, a small group of PHAB experts visit your facility in person.
This trained team will verify documentation accuracy, ask follow-up questions about standards and measures, and generally discuss your application and documentation further.
The PHAB on-site team develops a report after the visit that summarizes whether or not each PHAB measure was tracked appropriately, as well as areas of excellence and areas of improvement in health department practices. That report is submitted to the PHAB Accreditation Committee.
The Accreditation Committee reviews the site visit report and decides whether to award your healthcare organization accreditation status.
If PHAB accreditation is won, you retain that designation for five years (as long as you submit annual reports...see next step).
If accreditation is denied, you have the opportunity to submit an Action Plan to address areas of non-compliance and achieve accreditation status.
After you earn accreditation, you canât rest on your laurels. To maintain your recognition, health departments must submit annual reports that summarize how theyâve addressed areas of improvement since the prior report and verify continuing compliance with PHAB accreditation standards.
PHAB accreditation expires after five years. Unfortunately, thereâs no shortcut for reaccreditationâthe process begins at step two with the application. Weâve provided more details about reaccreditation in chapter 5.
Each year, all accredited health departments must submit their complete Annual Report to PHAB. This is not required during the year that the health department is applying for reaccreditation.
An Annual Report is an opportunity for health departments to show how they continue to advance the quality and performance of tribal, state, local, and territorial public health departments.
Beyond PHABâs need to ensure that health departments remain in conformity with the requirements under which it was reviewed for accreditation or reaccreditation, the organization also supports health departmentsâ efforts to improve their quality of service.
There are three sections required in the Annual Report. Section I addresses the health departmentâs continued accreditation status; Section II addresses the health departmentâs ongoing quality improvement work and preparations for future reaccreditation; finally, Section III provides for Population Health Outcomes Reporting.
PHAB provides PHAB-prescribed forms for all three sections of the Annual Report, which is then submitted via e-PHAB.
As previously discussed, health departments must seek reaccreditation every five years. Though accreditation and reaccreditation are very similar, there are slight differentiations between the two processes.
PHAB makes a package of Reaccreditation Documentation Forms, with a form that is specific to each requirement, available to any department seeking reaccreditation. These forms are mandatory and cannot be substituted.
A big part of earning accreditation is being able to offer proof that you are continually improving processes and the overall quality of healthcare services. Manual processes and Excel formulas arenât going to cut it and PHAB makes that clear in standard 9.1: âUse a performance management system to monitor achievement of organizational objectives.â
This seems more than reasonable when you consider PHAB requires you meet 32 standards across 12 domains. Even if youâre trying to meet the public health accreditation standards of other organizations, they are likely just as rigorous, and youâre going to need the help of technology.
ClearPointâs performance management software can:
Contact us to learn more about how ClearPoint can help you meet public health accreditation standards.
ClearPoint Strategy offers the tools and support you need to manage and streamline your healthcare accreditation efforts efficiently. With our robust platform, you can ensure that your documentation, strategic planning, and quality improvement initiatives are aligned with PHAB standards. Book a free demo today and discover how ClearPoint can help your public health department achieve accreditation success.
Public Health Accreditation Board (PAHB) accreditation is the measurement of health department performance against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused, and evidence-base standards. More specifically, PHAB accreditation requires that applicants meet 32 total standards across 12 domains.
Healthcare organizations that achieve accreditation can qualify for federal funding, and it increases their odds of receiving grants and donations. The additional financial support is abig contributor to providing the best care for patients.
You need performance management software to help you monitor achievement of your organization goals. Performance management software can heel your teams organized and automate tracking of measures and metrics for you.
The submission details of what's required for reaccreditation is different from accreditation. Reaccreditation, though, continues to address the 10 Essential Public Health Services through the arrangement of the Standards and Measures into Domains similar to accreditation.
Sean is the Vice President of Sales at ClearPoint. He leads the Sales department and focuses on developing impactful, consultative sales teams.