Public health laws and implications for a national accreditation program: parallel roadways without intersection?

Public health law has been one of the leading contributors to the extension of life expectancy in the 20th century. Nonetheless, the legal infrastructure supporting public health law in the United States is underdeveloped and nonuniform. With national interest growing in public health agency accreditation, the individual legal approach taken by states may pose an obstacle to wholesale adoption of a proposed voluntary national model. This article describes the legal foundations supporting accreditation or assessment programs in states participating in the Multi-State Learning Collaborative, a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Turning Point Model State Public Health Act is recommended as one option to resolve the current impasse, assist in acceptance of a national accreditation model, and provide a common public health legal infrastructure.