Introduction to Healthcare Quality and Accreditation Agencies

435 TD1
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435 TD1
Accreditation is the certification of an organization, institution, agency, service, or program by an authorized body (Desveaux et al., 2017). Accreditation involves a process of assessing performance and comparing it to established standards with the sole aim of supporting continuous improvement. Accreditation programs are widespread. However, there is little understanding of the impact accreditation programs have on quality (Desveaux et al., 2017). Whether or not accreditation is a guarantee of quality healthcare is had to determine. Hence, this paper aims to show that accreditation is a guarantee of quality healthcare.
According to Devkaran and O'Farrell (2015), the frequency of medical errors is quickly gaining pace. The result has been increased concern about quality and accountability standards. Healthcare leaders, therefore, seek scientific methods to improve the quality of healthcare in hospitals. Still, there is little empirical literature to show the impact accreditation has on the quality of healthcare. In their study, Devkaran and O'Farrell (2015) conduct the first empirical episodic time series analysis to determine the impact of accreditation on hospital quality measures. The research involved observing quality outcomes over 48 months in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results of their study showed that accreditation had a significant impact on 16 out of the 27 measures (Devkaran & O'Farrell, 2015). The findings also showed a residual benefit that lasted three years after accreditation was performed for performance remained at 90%, which is 20% higher than the 2009 baseline level. Therefore, the authors concluded that while there was a drop in performance immediately after the survey was complete, accreditation improvement was maintained in the three-year accreditation cycle (Devkaran & O'Farrell, 2015).
Alkhenizan and Shaw (2011) note that accreditation should be a voluntary program in which external reviewers evaluate a healthcare institution's compliance with established performance standards through comparison. In their study, the authors aimed at assessing the impact that accreditation has on the quality of healthcare services. Therefore, they co...