The accreditation movement in public health is gathering momentum.   More states are measuring how local and state health departments deliver public health's essential services. But how best to motivate voluntary participation in accreditation?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with the National Network of Public Health Institutes has awarded the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (NCIPH) a grant to conduct research on the benefits and incentives of accreditation and to determine what incentives are the most effective.

These findings will be linked to the proposed national public health accreditation model, published in the Final Recommendations for a Voluntary National Accreditation Program for State and Local health Departments available at www.exploringaccreditation.org

Leah Devlin, DDS, MPH, State Health Director and Rachel Stevens, EdD, RN Senior Advisor at NCIPH were members of the steering committee for this initiative.

The research grant for $85,364 is for one year. 

The primary investigator is Ed Baker, MD, MPH, director of NCIPH, with director of evaluation services Mary Davis, DrPH, as co-PI.  Molly Cannon, MPH, is the lead research associate.