title: Evaluation as a critical factor of success in local public health accreditation programs.
abstract: This article presents the variety of approaches used to conduct evaluations of performance improvement or accreditation systems, while illustrating the complexity of conducting evaluations to inform local public health practice. We, in addition, hope to inform the Exploring Accreditation Program about relevant experiences involving accreditation and performance assessment processes, specifically evaluation, as it debates and discusses a national voluntary model. A background of each state is given. To further explore these issues, interviews were conducted with each state's evaluator to gain more in-depth information on the many different evaluation strategies and approaches used. On the basis of the interviews, the authors provide several overall themes, which suggest that evaluation is a critical tool and success factor for performance assessment or accreditation programs.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Consulting, LLC, Ozark, Missouri, USA. btremain@publichealthconsulting.net
authors.forename: Beverly
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tremain
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Joly
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Edgar
authors.forename: Mary L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kushion
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D015980:Public Health Practice / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States