Answers to frequently asked questions about PHAB and voluntary national accreditation of public health departments are provided below.

1. What is PHAB?
The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is an organization dedicated to raising the standard for public health. With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), PHAB is working with leading public health experts to develop a voluntary national accreditation program that will help public health departments assess their current capacity and guide them to become even better providers of quality service.

2. Who will administer the new voluntary accreditation program?
The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) will administer the voluntary, national accreditation program for state and local public health departments. This program is based on the recommendations of the steering committee of the Exploring Accreditation project that was launched in 2005.

3. How is the accreditation board governed?
A board of directors oversees PHAB. The board is comprised of public health thought leaders in practice, government, associations and academia from around the country. Their expertise spans standardization, financial administration, state and local public health. The board will appoint a new set of governing directors in August 2008.

Board of Directors

4. Who will lead The Public Health Accreditation Board?
Dr. Albert Gray was named executive director of PHAB in June 2007.

Staff Bios

5. When can my health department apply for accreditation?
Development of the program's accreditation process has been underway since June 2007. Beginning August 1 through October 31, 2008, draft standards and metrics for the program will be available for state and local health departments to review and share feedback.

Draft Standards

Implementation of a beta testing phase for state and local public health departments will begin in May 2009.

It is anticipated that the first applications for accreditation will be accepted in 2011.

6. How were the accreditation standards created?
The domains, standards and measures used existing work—such as NACCHO's Operational Definition, ASTHO's Understanding State Public Health project, state accreditation programs, and the National Public Health Performance Standards Program—were drafted by a workgroup over a six month period. They are open for vetting through potential applicants and other stakeholders.  All relevant activities will be overseen by committees and workgroups comprised primarily of government public health professionals.

Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Exploring Accreditation project