title: An examination of state laws and policies regarding public health agency accreditation prerequisites.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) began accepting applications for national voluntary accreditation in the fall of 2011. There are 3 prerequisites for accreditation: health assessments; health improvement plans; and strategic plans. These prerequisites must be in place for a state or local public health agency to apply for PHAB accreditation. Completion of the prerequisites can become a barrier for agencies that are considering applying for accreditation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This project looked at all 50 states through a legal lens to identify legal tools in the form of laws, rules, executive orders, contracts, legislative resolutions, and other tools that are used to authorize or require that a state or local health agency complete 1 or more of the prerequisites.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using legal research platforms and a Boolean search stream, an inquiry of legal tools in all 50 states was completed to determine where legal tools are used to authorize or require the 3 PHAB prerequisites. Once legal tools were found, interviews were conducted with key informants from each state to understand the implementation and use of the legal tools found and collect any additional legal tools that were not found from the legal search.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results include key findings and, importantly, an inventory of laws and legal tools that are being used around the country to require and support completion of the prerequisites. Within all 50 states, 26 states have some type of a mandate regarding 1 or more of the PHAB prerequisites. This includes 1 state that includes a mandate for PHAB accreditation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  States use a wide variety of legal tools to implement the prerequisites for voluntary accreditation. It is important to understand the interpretation, enforcement, and support of the laws and legal tools to determine whether the tools have impact in individual states.
authors: Thielen Consulting, Fort Collins, Colorado (Ms Thielen); University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver, Colorado (Mr Dauer and Dr Burkhardt); and Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials, Denver (Mss Lampe and VanRaemdonck).
authors: Lee
authors: L
authors: Thielen
authors: Edward
authors: E
authors: Dauer
authors: Diane
authors: D
authors: Burkhardt
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Lampe
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: VanRaemdonck
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D057766:Policy; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards*; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D013219:State Government