Public Health Accreditation in Wisconsin

Accreditation is a voluntary program that measures the degree to which state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments meet nationally recognized standards and measures.

PHAB is the Public Health Accreditation Board, a non-profit accrediting body for national public health accreditation. Their mission is to promote and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of all health departments in the United States.

Wisconsin Administrative Code § DHS 140.08 allows nationally accredited health departments to use their accreditation domain evidence to demonstrate compliance with Wisconsin statute and rule requirements for local health departments. The Department of Health Services (DHS) has created a crosswalk of PHAB standards and measures to Wisconsin administrative code. This permits accredited local health departments to demonstrate compliance with state regulations through an alternative review process that reduces the administrative burden on local health departments.

For more information on the alternative DHS 140 review process for accredited local health departments, contact DHS 140 calendar inbox at dhscal140reviews@dhs.wisconsin.gov.

WALHDAB has identified public health capacity building for local health departments. More information on these efforts is available on the WALHDAB website.

DPH, OPPA, offers technical assistance and accreditation materials including resources, tools, documents, and processes that may provide a starting point for the development of locally required documentation established by PHAB. To request assistance, contact your DPH Regional Office.

A detailed list of resources for completing some of the PHAB initial accreditation and reaccreditation measures can be found on the Accreditation Evidence for Local and Tribal Health Departments page.

Included below are links to national public health accreditation partner resources.

• American Public Health Association (APHA) – APHA supports and promotes public health accreditation as a means to strength government public health systems in the United States. The Association communicates the latest public health science and practice to members, opinion leaders and the public.
• Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO) Accreditation and Performance Standards – ASTHO provides information about accreditation preparation tools, current activities in states, and the work of the National Public Health Performance Standards (NPHPSP), as well as other information on its Web site for state health departments.
• National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Accreditation and Quality Improvement – NACCHO provides tools, resources, and training opportunities to local health departments to assist in their preparation for accreditation and in using quality improvement processes to improve performance and meet PHAB standards.
• National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH) Accreditation and the Role of Governance – NALBOH provides resources and information to support the governance and leadership role of boards of health. Boards of health can find information and resources about accreditation, quality improvement and the NPHPSP on the NALBOH Web site.
• National Indian Health Board (NIHB) and Tribal Public Health Accreditation – The NIHB Web site provides information, resources, and links addressing the development of tribal public health accreditation.
• National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) – NNPHI has long recognized the value of supporting agency and systems improvement and has engaged in many activities towards accreditation and performance improvement in public health. The website includes accreditation resources such as a Public Health Performance Improvement Toolkit, archived webinars, QI storyboards, and stories and topical briefs from states.
• Pathways Recognition Program (PHAB) – Pathways Recognition Program is offered by PHAB for local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments not yet ready for accreditation. The Pathways Recognition Program is designed to support performance improvement efforts, strengthen infrastructure, and facilitate public health system transformation for departments.
  Pathways Recognition Program assesses health departments on the Foundational Capability measures in the Standards and Measures for Initial Accreditation Version 2022. There are 34 measures assessed in the Pathways Recognition program, and they are divided into two tracks –Services and Partnerships and Health Department Systems.
• PHAB – PHAB is the Public Health Accreditation Board, a non-profit accrediting body for national public health accreditation. Their mission is to promote and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of all health departments in the United States.
• Public Health Foundation (PHF) and Performance Management and Quality Improvement – The PHF website includes assorted tools and resources related to performance management, quality improvement, public health improvement, workforce development and other topics. Performance management resources include the body of work developed by the Turning Point Performance Management Collaborative.