Table 5.

Quality Characteristics of Public Health Systems59

Quality Characteristics of Public Health Systems	Description of Quality Characteristic
Population centered	Protecting and promoting healthy conditions and the health for the entire population.
Equitable	Working to achieve health equity.
Proactive	Formulating policies and sustainable practices in a timely manner, while mobilizing rapidly to address new and emerging threats and vulnerabilities.
Health promoting	Ensuring policies and strategies that advance safe practices by providers and the population and that increase the probability of positive health behaviors and outcomes.
Risk reducing	Diminishing adverse environmental and social events by implementing policies and strategies to reduce the probability of preventable injuries and illness or other negative outcomes.
Vigilant	Intensifying practices and enacting policies to support enhancements to surveillance activities (e.g., technology, standardization, systems thinking and modeling).
Transparent	Ensuring openness in the delivery of services and practices with particular emphasis on valid, reliable, accessible, timely, and meaningful data that is readily available to stakeholders, including the public.
Effective	Justifying investments by utilizing evidence, science, and best practices to achieve optimal results in areas of greatest need.
Efficient	Understanding costs and benefits of public health interventions to facilitate the optimal utilization of resources to achieve desired outcomes.