TARRANT COUNTY, TX
Public Health
TCPH is PHAB Accredited
Public Health Accreditation
TCPH has been awarded the coveted national accreditation status from the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB).
Serving a county population of nearly 1.9 million residents, TCPH is the first nationally accredited health department in the DFW Metroplex, and only the second in the state - behind the City of Houston.
By obtaining national accreditation status, TCPH is now one of the first 100 accredited public health departments in the nation, and among the top three percent of all public health departments nationally.
The goal of PHAB and national accreditation is to improve the quality of health services and accountability to stakeholders. PHAB is the national non-profit organization that administers the accreditation program for tribal, state, local and territorial health departments in the United States.
TCPH sought to complete the formal process in 2014, with the goal of obtaining accreditation in 2015. Along with improving the quality of health care services that TCPH provides, this achievement would better position TCPH to compete for future funding opportunities that support our operations.
Part of the approach toward accreditation required that a standardized quality improvement system become part of all daily operations. TCPH leadership and representative staff began training in July 2014. Initial improvements included better internal communications and a mechanism for gauging employee satisfaction. Further efforts in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) service and delivery have shown to improve the department’s overall effectiveness at safeguarding the community’s health. Early results showed great success and a CQI culture is now in place at TCPH.
The development of the accreditation program is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. PHAB is located in Alexandria, VA.
Public Health Accreditation Goal
The goal of the voluntary national accreditation program is to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of tribal, state local and territorial public health departments.
Accreditation Defined
Accreditation is the measurement of health department performance against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused and evidence-based standards; the issuance of recognition of achievement of accreditation within a specified time frame by a nationally recognized entity; and the continual development, revision and distribution of public health standards. Once conferred, public health accreditation is in effect for five years.
The benefits of accreditation for TCPH would be to:
- better identify strengths and weaknesses of the health department;
- document capacity of the department to deliver the core functions (10 Essential Public Health Services);
- stimulate transparency;
- improve management processes used by the health department;
- stimulate quality improvement and performance management;
- improve accountability to community, stakeholders, and policy makers;
- improve communication with the governing entity/board of health; and
- improve competitiveness for funding.
Maintaining Accreditation
Accreditation drives public health departments to continuously improve their organizational capacity and the quality of the services they deliver to their communities. Accredited health departments report to PHAB annually on their continuous quality improvement culture and associated initiatives.