Gene W. Matthews, J.D., director, Public Health Law Network – Southeastern Region
Description
Health agency accreditation has the potential to provide significant assistance to health departments currently facing serious economic and political challenges to their resource base and legal structures. The accreditation process is also an important opportunity for public health professionals to engage community stakeholders in new and meaningful ways.
This webinar was intended to provide insight for public health practitioners, their legal counsels and elected officials into the legal and political implications of the national voluntary public health agency accreditation program, which is scheduled to be launched on September 15, 2011 by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Panelists discussed how accreditation can identify the potential changes underway in health department legal structure; the current PHAB launch, including its background, legal components and implications on the public health community; and lessons from recent PHLR research on the various state legal structures that support public health agency accreditation or certification programs. Also discussed was the Kansas experience of establishing a voluntarily quality improvement program and shared service delivery in a home rule state legal environment.
This webinar was presented in Partnership by: American Society of Law Medicine and Ethics (ASLME); Public Health Law Association (PHLA); Public Health Law Network; and Public Health Law Research (PHLR)