Experience a modern approach to health department inspections and permitting.

Accela’s Civic Application for Environmental Health is a software solution that streamlines public health protection by combining all program data into one system, and automating the application submission, plan review, inspection, and permitting process to reduce reliance on internal IT departments.

The Civic Application for Environmental Health automates all of the manual processes that go into receiving applications for plan reviews, permit renewals, and enforcement actions so agency staff can focus on strategic projects like improving business owner outreach and education on environmental health best practices.

Features

Best in the cloud

Accela SaaS delivers the highest levels of security and reliability through Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure.

Accela meets the critical standards of HIPAA / HITECH Type1, SSAE18 SOC2 Type2, PCI-DSS v3.2.1, and the CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT.

Enhance your processing power with automation

A rich workflow engine helps automate steps in the permitting process bogged down by manual work. You can assign tasks, track and schedule inspections, associate documents and information to different types of applications, track processing times, send alerts, and generally keep processes running smoothly without having to think about it.

Also included are automatic notifications, so back-office staff don’t have to manually create notes and send emails about upcoming permit renewals, permit expiration dates, or corrective action notices – they are just sent to operators automatically.
Online portal for paying fees and tracking statuses

The citizen portal included with the solution is a configurable web interface that allows operators to submit applications, upload documents, make payments, and get status updates on their own time, outside of agency business hours.

This self-service approach also saves agency time by not having to process phone calls or schedule office visits for permit status or outstanding fee inquiries.

Modern field inspections on a mobile device

Accela Environmental Health includes an intuitive mobile interface, consolidating paper files and checklists into the portable mobile platform of your choice.

Inspectors can access relevant information for any inspection on-the-fly, giving them the flexibility to inspect any facility as they come across it in the field. Completed inspections are sent to the operator via email, and results are pushed to the cloud, updating the office database in real-time.
Integration with GIS

GIS integration facilitates inspection assignments by inspector district, and enables staff to view facilities by geographic region, health program discipline, or permit or complaint status. Visualize your regulatory data, and access data across agency lines directly from the map.

Standardized and ad hoc reporting

Empower management to measure, track and analyze productivity to make more informed strategic decisions about staffing, fees and health code violation trends, so they can report back on agency progress to stakeholders.

Benefits

Improve operator satisfaction

Facility operators can apply for a permit, pay fees, and view their application status all in an online portal, without having to travel to agency offices. Application processing timelines are shortened with improved back-office best practices, and supported by smart technology.
Generate more revenue

Process more applications in a shorter amount of time, increasing fee revenues, and ensuring fiscal sustainability. Monitor staff performance with reporting that identifies gaps in coverage, and subsequent public health risk.
Reduce double-work

Field workers don’t have to travel back to the office after a day of inspections to enter results into the database. With a connected mobile device, inspection data is pushed to the cloud, and inspectors can spend more time in the field.
Ensure healthier communities

Streamlining agency activities means more inspections are done in less time, more businesses open with less headache, and citizens are better protected and free to enjoy their community without fear of getting sick.
Achieve higher rates of compliance

Accessing violation history from the cloud gives field staff a holistic approach to inspections, and gives business owners a reference for their next inspection. Checklists are translatable into multiple languages, giving bi-lingual operators a higher chance of compliance.
Create partnership with regulated community

Eliminating duplicate processes and streamlining operations means that staff can spend time enhancing educational outreach programs for both operators and citizens on health risks to look out for.
Be prepared to handle unexpected events

With health program data stored in one system, staff can report on the location and permit status of all regulated facilities in a list, or on a map, providing an essential tool in times of crisis.
Stay on top of recurring inspections

With automatic scheduling and reminders of upcoming inspections, staff can avoid missed inspection deadlines, and help keep facilities in compliance.