A Self-Assessment Process for Accreditation Preparedness
The Local Health Department Self-Assessment Tool (LHDSAT) provides “the big picture” to health departments preparing for accreditation.
The Knox County Health Department serves greater metropolitan Knoxville, Tenn. and Knox County. In 2008, its director appointed a 7-person workgroup to conduct a self-assessment using LHDSAT. LHDSAT employs a set of 45 standards and 224 indicators related to the Operational Definition of a Functional Local Health Department. The Knox County workgroup scored the health department for each indicator, calculated the range and mean for each indicator, and discussed their results. Following the self-assessment, workgroup members evaluated the process during in-depth interviews and using a self-administered evaluation.
Key Findings:
- Workgroup members found the process flexible and cohesive.
- While LHDSAT was comprehensive, the language was sometimes complicated and problematic.
The establishment of the National Public Health Accreditation Board opened the door to a national accreditation program for local and state health departments. This article presents an evaluation of the LHDSAT, as self-assessment tool that prepares health departments for accreditation.
April Issue of Health Affairs Focuses on Patient Safety and Health Care Quality
- 1. The Ongoing Quality Improvement Journey
- 2. A Road Map for Improving the Performance of Performance Measures
- 3. The Trade-Off Among Quality, Quantity, and Cost
- 4. 'Global Trigger Tool' Shows that Adverse Events in Hospitals May be Ten Times Greater Than Previously Measured
- 5. Preventing Bloodstream Infections
- 6. Measuring the Performance of Individual Physicians by Collecting Data from Multiple Health Plans
- 7. Measuring Health Care Performance Now, Not Tomorrow
- 8. Despite Improved Quality of Care in the Veterans Affairs Health System, Racial Disparity Persists for Important Clinical Outcomes
- 9. The Importance of Transitional Care in Achieving Health Reform
- 10. An Early Status Report on the Beacon Communities' Plans for Transformation Via Health Information Technology
- 11. A Comparative Study of 11 Local Health Department Organizational Networks
- 12. Public Health Performance
- 13. A Self-Assessment Process for Accreditation Preparedness
- 14. Public Health Delivery Systems
- 15. A Shot in the Rear, Not a Shot in the Dark
- 16. What Predicts Local Public Health Agency Performance Improvement?
- 17. Growth of a Scientific Community of Practice
- 18. Evolution of Coauthorship in Public Health Services and Systems Research
- 19. Resources that May Matter
- 20. Evidence Links Increases in Public Health Spending to Declines in Preventable Deaths
- 21. Public Health Financial Management Competencies
- 22. Decision Science
- 23. Public Health Financial Management Needs
- 24. Data-Driven Management Strategies in Public Health Collaboratives
- 25. Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs with Public Health Services and Programs
- 26. Public Health Systems and Services Research
- 27. Mapping the Multidisciplinary Field of Public Health Services and Systems Research