The South Dakota Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Health Statistics has been awarded national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board.
PHAB is the national accrediting organization for state, Tribal, local and territorial health departments. In 2018, PHAB added the Vital Records/Health Statistics Accreditation program to the robust portfolio of public health department accreditation.
Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon says it’s an honor to be the first VRHS unit in the country to be awarded PHAB accreditation, further demonstrating the agency’s commitment to accountability and performance improvement. She says the Department relies on preserved information and accurate data to best inform and deliver public health programs to communities.
Vital records health information is collected and used for calculating basic statistics at both the local and national level and the data are regularly used for medical and health research. The vital records unit is critical in creating and informing effective public health programs in communities.
The VRHS national accreditation program, which receives support from the National Center for Health Statistics, sets standards against which the nation’s governmental VRHS units can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance. The program was developed with support and input from VRHS professionals from across the country and the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems.
For more information visit www.doh.sd.gov.
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