The Public Health National Center for Innovations: An Initial Qualitative Evaluation

The Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI) was launched in 2015 as a division of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) to serve as a hub for fostering public health innovation and transformation.

We explored perspectives of key informants to assess PHNCI's work in its first 5 years, including implementation of activities, outputs, accomplishments, and opportunities.

This qualitative study involved a Web site review; secondary document review; 15 interviews with 17 key informants purposively sampled from 2 groups-PHNCI and PHAB staff and leadership (PHNCI respondents), and external partners and collaborators (external respondents); and thematic analysis of qualitative data.

United States.

PHNCI implemented its planned activities over the past 5 years-including grant programs and learning communities; large-scale public health initiatives; conferences, events, and convenings; webinar trainings; and resources, tools, and materials-resulting in more than 150 outputs. According to key informants, PHNCI's major accomplishments were as follows: contributed to an increased understanding and awareness of innovation in the public health field; provided grants and learning communities to support innovation; developed and disseminated materials to help practitioners innovate; established partnerships and promoted cross-sector collaboration; supported systems transformation; incorporated innovation into public health accreditation; and focused efforts to advance health equity.

Going forward, PHNCI should continue to prioritize its core activities that support public health innovation and transformation; expand its work by addressing innovation in new public health topic areas; strengthen and expand its cross-sector work, partnerships, and activities to advance health equity and antiracism; and increase its visibility and reach, particularly within other sectors. Continued commitment and leadership are important for strengthening the capacity of the public health system to innovate, respond to ongoing and emerging public health threats and challenges, and advance health equity.