title: Final recommendations for a voluntary national accreditation program for state and local health departments: steering committee report.
abstract: A recently released report of the Exploring Accreditation Project affirmatively answered the questions regarding the desirability and feasibility of establishing a national voluntary public health accreditation program. The report's recommendations were made after 10 months of inquiry from public health experts, elected officials, the general public health workforce, academicians, and other interested parties, more than 650 public health professionals in all. Recommendations regarding how such a program might be implemented insofar as its governance, principles for standards development, financing and incentives, and evaluation were included. The report provides a blueprint for establishing a national voluntary public health accreditation program. This article describes key aspects of the Steering Committee recommendations, with limited linkage to implementation strategies where relevant, in the four areas in which the project was designed. Details are provided in the final reports of the Steering Committee (www.exploringaccreditation.org) and in other articles in this issue.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, USA. kbender@son.umsmed.edu
authors.forename: Kaye
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bender
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benjamin
authors.forename: Jacalyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carden
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gorenflo
authors.forename: George E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Jarris
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Libbey
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Nolan
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards*; D026683:Advisory Committees; D011634:Public Health / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D013220:State Health Planning and Development Agencies / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States