What are the hallmarks of an effective public health department? Public health accreditation may not be the first answer that comes to mind. But the  Public Health Accreditation Board  created a framework that can help health departments transform their quality, accountability and performance. The  Community Health Assessment  anchors the PHAB framework, which includes 10 Essential Public Health Services aligned to 10 domains and eight key public health capabilities. To improve your application process, it’s essential to see how your CHA affects your public health accreditation. These are the five things you need to know now.  1.     Accreditation is prevalent but takes time Per the  CDC , 80% of state public health departments are PHAB accredited, as are hundreds of  local and tribal agencies . These achievements didn’t happen overnight. Public health departments may lack the time, staff, data and partnerships to refine their CHAs,...