ACCREDITATION OF HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

ACCREDITATION OF HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

For more than 100 years of accreditation in America has been a volunteer and recurrent evaluation process that assures the quality of institutions and programs. Both the institution and accreditor work together to set high standards within the organization. Some bodies involved in accreditation are accrediting agencies and the organizations that approve the accrediting agencies and the government. Recently, there has been an increased demand for quality healthcare services due to forces such as insurance, corporate growth and competition. These forces result in the expectations of the consumer for the best quality has also risen.

The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers define accreditation as an assessment process used to assess the activities of health facilities (Mosadeghrad, Akbari-sari & Yousefinezhadi, 2017). Quality assurance focuses on the issues surrounding medical ethics, evidence-based practice, prevention errors and guarantee of quality. Accreditation is the means that health organizations are committed to providing high-quality care and have also demonstrated meeting high patient standards (Swoyer &Clements, 2019). Certification is of two types Programmatic and institutional accreditation. Institutional accreditation review the educational institution whereas programmatic accreditation review specific programs within the institution. Institutional accreditation further has two branches: national and regional.

Accreditation is a voluntary practice which challenges the regulation set by the government both at the state and central level. It supports facilities by transforming their operations and supporting their missions. It also allows them to provide the clients with the high-quality services they deserve. It gives the staff a sense of fulfilment as it encourages them to work towards continuous quality improvement (Hall, 2018). Most importantly, accreditation helps organization secure funding which provides it with the necessary financial support. Many governments set regulations that remain unobserved in most states; hence healthcare quality remains unattended and poor. It also fills the gaps and removes the areas of deficiency, thus establishing the clinical excellence and optimum standards (Hall, 2018). The American government acknowledges that independent assessments programs should perform accreditation. The Joint Commission Internationals in America is the best known accrediting body with the best standards recognized all over the world. Since the concept is not new other countries like Australian and Canada also have their models (Hall, 2018). Additionally, accreditation ensures that the facilities: both the private or public paly the expected roles in the health system.

Accreditation aims at ensuring that health facilities give importance to affordability, quality, effectiveness and efficiency besides performing evidence-based practices which is not only crucial to the organization but the patient as well. Often time’s patients feel confident seeking services in accredited facilities (Swoyer &Clements, 2019). To many of us, such facilities are well equipped to take care of their needs. Ultimately the importance of accreditation in healthcare is to strengthen the organization and also prove that you are capable of providing high-quality care. It also raises the confidence that the community has in the services offered by the facility. It also creates an opportunity for the healthcare unit to benchmark with the best.

According to JCI, any facility may apply for accreditation if it is within the American territories and acting as a healthcare provider in the country and licensed to provide care in treating in the country. .Additionally, the facility should be open, and in full operation, i.e. it is admitting and discharging patients. The facility should also be open to improvements in the care and services they provide. Lastly, the hospitals should meet the conditions described in the Accreditation Participation Requirements. Some of the accreditation resources listed by JCI include enough staff; medical equipment’s among other things.

According to Bender, 2017, the initial accreditation assesses the ability of a health department to perform the essential services. It also measures the capacity of the facility to communicate effectively with the governing entity. It should be The first step of accreditation is a pre-application that involves the facility proving they can undertake the process. After passing the pre-application measure, the health department then submits its application with the required fee. The third step is to document the selection ad submission, where the applicants provide the necessary documentation for the requirements. The next step is a site visit were a group of experts from PHAB visit the facility in-person to verify the accuracy of the documents. The PHAB on-site team develops a report. The committee then reviews the feedback and decides whether to award them with the accreditation status or not. Winning the accreditation will mean they get a five-year accreditation status as long as you submit the annual reports. You are required to submit the annual reports for as long as your organization exits. The reports should address the areas of improvement since the initial release. The accreditation expires after five years, which means you will have to reapply. But the process would begin at step two where you apply.

When facilities lose licensure, they can lose payments and third-party licensure. In severe cases, the facility can face a preliminary denial of accreditation. If it loses Joint Commission accreditation, the hospital could lose its ability to commercially insured patient. But it is not something that happens every day (Dennis, 2020). There are several types of licensing that an organization can have. Theses are medical doctor licenses., different state board licenses and physician assistant. Licensure is a mandatory practice that protects public health safety. It ensures that people possessing it to have a minimal level of requirements to perform the tasks under the license

Finally, accreditation is the view as a quality assurance process that often leads to quality improvement is a transparent system control over the accredited hospital assuring the hospital will always fulfil the requirements.

References

Bender, K. (2017). After Initial Accreditation: The Road Ahead. In Solving Population Health Problems through Collaboration (pp. 143-158). Routledge.

Dennis, B. L. (2020). Critical Steps in Obtaining Licensure. Beginning Your Counseling Career: Graduate Preparation and Beyond.

Hall III, J. W. (2018). The Importance of Accreditation “Of, By, and For Audiology”. AUDIOLOGY, 30(5), 86.

Mosadeghrad, A. M., Akbari-sari, A., & Yousefinezhadi, T. (2017). Evaluation of hospital accreditation standards. Razi Journal of Medical Sciences, 23(153), 43-54.

Swoyer, J. W., & Clements, D. S. (2019). SINGLE ACCREDITATION… A MUCH LONGER PROCESS. The Annals of Family Medicine, 17(4), 377-377.