SHORT PAPER: ACCREDITATION
Short Paper: Accreditation
Samantha Gilchrist
IHP 604: Healthcare Quality Improvement
Southern New Hampshire University
June 2, 2019
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Joshi. M., Nash, D.. Ransom E., & Ransom, S. (2014) use the definition of accreditatior
as "a process by which an entity external to the organization providing goods or services
evaluates that organization against a set of predetermined requirements or desirable attributes
and publicly attests to the results." The function is thereby to standardize the norms of function
and care provided by such individuals and organizations, so that minimum expectations are met
across the board. In many instances; accreditation is a standard consumers look for when
choosing services -- it portrays reliability that the goods provided will meet particular
benchmarks. In healthcare, insurers and providers both depend on accreditation standards to
define safe, quality care and to determine whether that is being practiced (Joshi, M. Nash, D.
Ransom, E. & Ransom, S., 2014)
Patient Safety Role
The Joint Commission is the most well known accrediting body in the United States with
the accreditation and certification of 21,000 health care organizations nationwide. The goal to
meet appropriate performance standards are accompanied with the vision that "all people always
experience the safest, highest quality, best value health care across all settings," (About the joint
commission, 2019). In order to promote this ideal of safety, the accredition process involves
criteria that must be met pertaining to safe patient identification, medication administration,
infection prevention, and surgical mistakes, among others (The Joint Commission, 2019). The
National Patient Safety Goals are established and reevaluated periodically. They focus on
common discrepancies in the health care continuum and how to address them. They are
measured during the survey process and when not met organizations are given a deadline to
amend discrepancies with accreditation pending (The Joint Commission, 2019). Accreditation
ensures that the minimum standard of patient safety is being met by an organization.
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NPSG and Joint Commission Survey Relationship
The Joint Commission developed the National Patient Safety Goals in an effort to
identify common issues within various healthcare organizations and streamline solutions. Some
of these include correct patient identification, staff communication, medication safety, alarms,
infection prevention, patient safety risks, and prevention of injury during surgery (The Joint
Commission, 2019). During the Joint Commission accreditation survey, these safety goals are
also evaluated. For example, the Boston VA Healthcare System meets all of the National Patient
Safety Goals in the hospital setting by meeting all of the standards required by the Joint
Commission (QualityCheck, 2018). An organization that meets the standards of the National
Patient Safety Goals will generally achieve accreditation status.
Consequences
In few instances, an organization may not meet the benchmarks related to safety goals set
by the Joint Commission. Upon completion of a survey, the Joint Commission gives the
organization access to a summary report; if all criteria are met, accreditation is granted
immediately. However, if an organization's summary includes requirements for improvement,
these must be addressed by the allotted dat