NCLHDA July 2018 Monthly Highlights - NC Local Health Department Accreditation

IN THIS ISSUE: First Annual Health Department Survey, Registration Open: Annual Workshop and Accreditation 101, Website Photo Request, AAC Listserv, and more…

New Releases

First Annual North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation (NCLHDA) Survey
The first annual NCLHDA Program annual survey is being administered to identify areas for quality improvement in the NCLHDA Program. All local health departments are asked to complete this survey regardless of whether or not your agency has been accredited during the previous year. We ask that any staff who are directly involved with the local health department accreditation process (Health Director, Agency Accreditation Coordinators and others with accreditation responsibilities) complete the survey to ensure that a variety of perspectives are represented.

You can access the survey here:https://unc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1AkZCMRgukyK5Nj. The survey will close at 5 p.m. on July 13. Please share the survey link with others from your organizations who have accreditation responsibilities. We look forward to getting feedback from a variety of accreditation staff from across the state.

It should take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete the survey. Your responses will be kept anonymous, and any county-specific information shared in this evaluation will not be used to identify any single agency. The results from the survey will be shared in the NCLHDA annual report and at the annual skills-building workshop.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu.

Registration for the NCLHDA Annual Workshop – NOW Open!
Registration for the 2018 NCLHDA Annual Workshop is now open. View the workshop agenda. The workshop will be held at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, 4700 Emperor Boulevard, Durham, N.C. On August 6, the workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Check-in begins at 9 a.m.) Coffee and light refreshments will be served in the morning, and lunch will be provided. On August 7, breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m., and the workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at noon.

TODAY (July 9) is the last day to reserve your hotel room at the state rate!
If you are planning to stay overnight, you can reserve your hotel room now by clicking this link NCLHD Accreditation Workshop 2018 or by copying and pasting this link into your browser: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/NCLHDWorkshop2018. We encourage you to reserve your hotel rooms early as the block of rooms at the state rate will only be held until July 9, 2018. If you have any questions, please contact us atNCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu.

Registration for the Accreditation 101: New Agency Accreditation (AAC) Training — NOW Open!
The New AAC training is being held in conjunction with the North Carolina Public Health Association Fall Educational Conference. The New AAC Training provides a basic overview of the accreditation process and the role of the AAC. The training is for new AACs, co-AACs and backup AACs. The training is NOT for experienced AACs. The training will be held on September 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hilton Charlotte University Place (8629 JM Keynes Drive, Charlotte). Registration is $60, which includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Click here to register: https://ncpha.memberclicks.net/fall-educational-conference. For additional details, visit NCLHDaccreditation.sph.unc.edu or email NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu.

Requesting Photos for the NEW NCLHDA Website
We are seeking images from health departments across the state to use on the new NCLHDA website and in future communications. We are particularly interested in images that show public health in action and communicate the important work you do in your communities. If you have images to share, please send high resolution JPGs toNCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu. Please be sure that we have permission to use the images from the photographer and/or person(s) pictured.

Accreditation in Action

CORRECTION: When the health departments that received reaccreditation were acknowledged in the June 2018 Monthly Highlights, the Onslow County Health Department was not recognized as being reaccredited with honors. We apologize for the oversight. Please see the corrected listing below.

All 85 North Carolina Local Health Departments are now Reaccredited!
As of May 18, 2018, all North Carolina Local Health Departments have been reaccredited at least one time. Congratulations to the local health departments reaccredited at the May 18, 2018 NCLHDA Board Meeting (Reaccredited with Honors designated in bold): Caswell County Health Department, Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Madison County Health Department, Moore County Health Department, Northampton County Health Department, Onslow County Health Department, Randolph County Health Department, Transylvania Public Health, Wayne County Health Department.

Accreditation 101: Team-Based Trainings
We are taking requests for 2018–2019 Team-Based Trainings. We can only accommodate a limited number of trainings each year. These trainings are offered through an AHEC technical assistance request. You can learn more about the training and how to submit a request on ourwebsite. If you are interested in the Team-Based Training, we encourage you to consider incorporating the training into a currently planned regional training. If you have any questions regarding this training, please contact us at NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu.

Upcoming Presentation:
Amy Belflower Thomas, NCLHD Accreditation Administrator, will be present on the NCLHDA program at the National Association of Local Boards of Health 2018 Annual Conference on August 9. Her presentation will be posted on the NCLHDA website following the presentation.

Agency Accreditation Coordinator Listserv
We have recently updated the AAC listserv and wanted to send a reminder about the use of the listserv:

The NCLHDA program staff will not contribute to any questions that relate to specific pieces of evidence and whether they meet/don’t meet. Agencies are welcome to respond and share, but we cannot.
Our program will NOT monitor any responses from agencies and weigh in on if those responses are correct/valid. Everyone is welcome to share, but understand that the NCLHDA program will not be “vetting” responses in any way.
At this time, only AACs can be included on the list. We cannot add any additional staff to the listserv. However, you are welcome to forward information throughout your agency if it is helpful.
If someone asks for a resource and you are willing to respond with an answer or a resource, please reply to the entire listserv and include that resource/answer or respond that other AACs can contact you directly. This way, everyone who is interested in the resource won’t have to respond to the entire listserv that they are interested, and we can cut down on some repetitive traffic.
We need your help in keeping the listserv current. If you are receiving emails from it and no longer serve in an AAC role or your agency’s AAC is not receiving emails, please contact NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu so we can update our information.

We look forward to sharing more about a new communication channel that we will be using for the accreditation program at the NCLHDA Annual workshop.

Key Dates

Please save the dates below for upcoming meetings and trainings. More information about these events is available on our website.

NCLHDA Skills Building Workshop: Building Your Accreditation Toolbox. August 6-7, 2018 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center, 4700 Emperor Boulevard, Durham, N.C. Workshop check-in will begin at 9 a.m. on August 6 and will sessions held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Breakfast will be provided at 7:30 a.m. on August 7. The workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. on August 7 and end at noon. Register for the training:http://nclhdaccreditation.sph.unc.edu/training/annual-workshop/

Accreditation 101: New AAC Training: September 18, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hilton Charlotte University Place, Charlotte, N.C. Register for the training:https://ncpha.memberclicks.net/fall-educational-conference.

NCLHDA Board Meeting: November 16, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the N.C. Division of Public Health, 5605 Six Forks Rd., in the Cardinal Meeting Room. The agenda will be posted by November 13.

Tips and Tricks for Accreditation Success: Stories from the Field

The Henderson County Health Department Annual Checklist of Accreditation Activities

The Henderson County Health Department created a checklist to track annual accreditation activities. The checklist includes the activities with evidence requirements that are due annually, within two years and within one year. They also include annual activities where only the most recent is required for evidence. They use a “stoplight” color coding approach to track progress. Anita Glance, the Agency Accreditation Coordinator (AAC), is notified throughout the year when evidence has been placed in the electronic folder. In addition, Anita reviews all of the evidence that has been submitted in the folder prior to the end of their accreditation year and codes each activity accordingly with either C (Complete) – I (In-progress) or – N (No Evidence). After entering the letter code, the cell is colored as follows:

According to Anita, “The system with checklist is very helpful to keep us on track, identify evidence needs and gaps before year end and it serves as a great resource for staff to quickly identify gaps each year.” Download the checklist. If you have any questions or for additional information, please email Anita at aglance@hendersoncountync.org.

We Want to Hear From You

Share your tips and tricks for accreditation success with other local health departments across the state. If you have a tip or trick that you would like to share, send a summary, no more than 500 words including the activity addressed and any lessons learned. Please send your submission to NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu. Stories will be shared via these monthly highlights.