Introduction
Accrediting institutions play a significant role in the field of public health. Their purpose is to ensure that medical organizations follow existing standards and provide the highest possible quality of care. Accreditation serves as a tool for the identification of services’ strengths and weaknesses and supports positive changes. This paper discusses the role of accrediting bodies, their goals and purposes, and issues related to the evaluation of public health departments.
Discussion
Accreditation programs are significant for health institutions as they allow for the establishment of quality standards and eliminate the outcomes of poor public health management. Accrediting bodies can help hospitals to evaluate their capability of delivering high-quality services, promote transparency in their operations, enhance management processes, as we as become competitive (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).
Such organizations ensure that medical institutions are accountable to their stakeholders, patients, and policymakers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018) show that almost 100% of health-related companies report performance improvement as a result of accreditation.
Accrediting institutions affect the quality of public health education as well because they assess the quality of programs, promote necessary changes, as well as allow institutions to seek funding. Also, accreditation enables graduates to become certified and eligible for selected jobs, fellowships, and training (Association of Accredited Public Health Programs, 2015). Evaluation of the educational institution’s quality assists them in adhering to existing standards and encourages them to develop effective preparation programs. As a result, students have enhanced knowledge and clinical skills, which leads to an increased quality of patient outcomes and eliminates potential medical errors.
It is vital to mention that having a singular accrediting institution in the field may be associated with adverse outcomes and the decreased quality of evaluation. Such organizations are responsible for maintaining a competent workforce, conducting assessments based on health issues affecting the community, and enforcing public health regulations (Bender, Kronstadt, Wilcox, & Tilson, 2014). However, a singular accrediting body may promote the same changes and policies for all health institutions, which will not allow for competition and may result in a decrease in the quality of services. Although the evaluation should be based on existing standards, it is vital to support diversity in training programs, as well as create different opportunities for medical students, patients, and clinicians.
Another possible weakness of having one accrediting body is that it may be insensitive to the specific concerns of communities and groups of the population. For example, a large all-American accrediting organization may not be aware of the financial needs of hospitals located in remote areas and avoid suggesting changes that would support them. Also, some health-related companies have a particular area of services, such as geriatrics, which means that they may follow different standards compared to other institutions. Finally, it is necessary to mention that accreditation aims to encourage the best solutions in medical care. With a singular organization, such an approach to evaluation may be unrealistic due to a lack of a comprehensive perspective on hospitals’ performance.
Conclusion
Accreditation is beneficial for public health and educational institutions, as well as medical professionals and patients. It allows for the enhanced quality of services and training, promotes transparency and reliability, and encourages changes in existing policies. Having a singular accrediting body may have various disadvantages, as it may prevent competition and cause the assessing institution’s insensitivity to the problems of a particular community or public health organization.
References
Association of Accredited Public Health Programs. (2015). About MPH program accreditation. Web.
Bender, K. W., Kronstadt, J. L., Wilcox, R., & Tilson, H. H. (2014). Public health accreditation addresses issues facing the public health workforce. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(5), 346-351.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). National voluntary accreditation for public health departments. Web.