New Releases 
2020-2021 Webinar Series
We are taking an Accred-a-cation from webinars in July. Instead of a monthly webinar, we will be sending some resources for you to check-out and read. We plan to start the webinar series back in August.
View the recording of the June 17 webinar, Audience Participation: Engaging health department staff and partners in Accreditation on our website.
Why Accreditation Matters for Local Public Health
The NCLHD Accreditation Program is preparing a series of communication tools to help Agency Accreditation Staff inform their colleagues and partners about the accreditation process and its value. In June, we released materials that accreditation team members can use to communicate about accreditation to local health department coworkers.
We also prepared an interactive mural where you can share your communication challenges and hopes related to accreditation. Your input will help us shape future communication tools!
Accreditation in Action
QI Design Team
The NCLHD Accreditation Program, Population Health Improvement Partners, and Local Health Departments across the state are working together over the next six months to design and test quality improvement-related activities. Congratulations to the six health departments who are joining the design team! The selected health departments all submitted fantastic applications detailing their commitment to quality improvement and excitement for new ideas: Burke County Health Department, Dare County Department of Health and Human Services, Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department, Montgomery County Department of Health, Onslow County Health Department, and Person County Health Department.
Key Dates
July 12 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Special NCLHD Accreditation Board Meeting. Zoom. The link to join the meeting is: https://uncsph.zoom.us/j/95037206289. The link is passcode protected. Please contact the NCLHD Accreditation Program at NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu by noon on July 12 for the passcode.
Tips and Tricks for Accreditation Success: Stories from the Field
Mecklenburg County Public Health – Engaging Staff in the NCLHDA Dashboard Through Microsoft Teams
Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH) is engaging staff who don’t have access to the NCLDHA Dashboard by using Microsoft Teams. According to Kayla Earley, Compliance Coordinator, “With so many people working virtually, we’ve learned to utilize Microsoft Teams at its fullest potential. We’ve created our own internal dashboard for Accreditation so that we can add additional members to the Accreditation Team without them needing access to the real dashboard.” (see images below). She explains, “This gives us a quick snapshot of what is needed, to whom it is assigned, its progress, and the timeframe in which it is due. I also linked the HDSAI directly to a Teams tab so that members can easily find it.”
One benefit of using the Planner tool in Teams is that tasks can be copied from year to year, meaning the AAC doesn’t have to recreate the wheel each year. While the person assigned and the dates may need to change, the tasks can easily be copied over and updated. MCPH arranges annual tasks into “buckets” named for the fiscal year. The team uploads evidence to each task for a one-stop place to save and review documents. Planner’s dashboard automatically updates to keep track of overdue items, items due by bucket, and items assigned to each person.
For more information contact Kayla Earley at Kayla.Earley@mecknc.gov
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.