Internet Resources on Emergency Preparedness
National Public Health Performance
Standards Program (NPHPSP)
Definition and Purpose of the NPHPSP
The NPHPSP is a collaboration of public health agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who have "partnered to develop clear, measurable performance standards for state and local public health systems to help ensure the delivery of the Essential Public Health Services. The goals of the program are to:
- Create tools for public health practitioners to use in continuous quality improvement processes
- Strengthen state and local public health systems by providing mechanisms for demonstrating accountability to constituencies
- Enhance decision-making by strengthening the science base for effective public health practice"
Performance Standards Instruments
To meet these goals, the NPHPSP has developed a series of instruments that public health policy makers and governing bodies, including local boards of health, can use to measure the delivery of the Essential Services within the state and local public health system. The NPHPSP includes three assessment instruments:
- The Local Public Health System Performance Assessment Instrument (Local Instrument) focuses on the local public health system (LPHS), which consists of all entities that contribute to the delivery of public health services within a community
- The State Public Health System Performance Assessment Instrument (State Instrument) focuses on the state public health system, which includes state public health agencies and other partners that contribute to public health services at the state level
- The Local Public Health System Governance Performance Assessment Instrument (Governance Instrument) focuses on the governing body ultimately accountable for public health at the local level. The primary goal of the Governance Instrument is to promote continuous quality improvement of local boards of health or other governing body in supporting the delivery of public health services to their jurisdiction
- Glossary of Acronym and Related Websites (Glossary) provides website addresses for public health organizations and definitions of public health terms mentioned in the texts of the three instruments
Each of these instruments is based on the Essential Services. For each service, specific goals or standards are described, along with the actions needed to accomplish the goal, and questions that help the policy makers or the governing body evaluate the state or local public health system.
