Introduction
Accreditation is a process through which certification of credibility, competency or authority is presented. Many healthcare organizations use accreditation to make sure that healthcare practitioners and facilities meet all the required terms of experience, standards morals and status. Accreditations given to healthcare practitioners acts as verification that they went through the accreditation procedure and are effectively approved. Within the field of healthcare, it is used by various organizations as well as agencies to make sure that healthcare practitioners together with facilities conform to the expectations. Accreditation gives a visible commitment by an entity to develop the quality of patient care, ensure a safe environment and work continually to reduce the risks of patients and staff members.
An example of accreditation is the authorization of testing laboratories and certification specialists who are allowed to give formal competence of observance of reputable principles like chemical, forensic, physical security and quality standards (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2009). Drug manufacturing and marketing companies are also accredited to ensure that quality is assured.
Accreditation is a useful and efficient means to guarantee the reliability, competence fairness of persons who carry out compliance evaluation. Therefore the sincerity and value of the subsequent attestations of compliance is accredited by the economies and societies of many countries in the world. Accreditation helps to wipe out unskilled healthcare personnels who might offer poor services and hence drag behind the reputation of the organization (Anonymous, 2004).
Importance of accreditation
Today healthcare professionals suggest mandatory accreditation of health facilities by the National Accreditation Board of hospitals. This will lay down hospital standards and make it simple for the people to make comparisons of services and bills charged by different hospitals. The only surest way of receiving the best healthcare is to stick with some of the medical facilities that have reputable credentials and accreditation. An assurance that they adhere to certain standards is always guaranteed. Some medical directors argue that accreditation not only improves healthcare but motivates improvement of health status. Recent news reports express the need for mandatory accreditation in all medical facilities which carry out complex diagonistic imaging and radio therapy procedures. Health facilities must be placed at equal safety and quality standards to enable patients access quality medical care irrespective of hospitals in which they obtain it (Levine, 2007).
Weaknesses inherent in the healthcare accreditation process
Organizations that have been accredited are supposed to report sentinel events in a short time after their occurrence. If the organization is to give a statement then the event once known by the accreditation spy is made public and this might ruin the reputation of the organization. An example of sentinel occurence is when a baby is taken by wrong parents or when surgery is carried out on the wrong part or organ of the body. Even when the information is not disclosed, the organization might be exposed at a later time (JCAHO, 2007).
Conclusion
Accreditation ensures quality and safety of services offered by an organization. This increases competency and reliability. In order to improve the overall quality of services in healthcare setups, more research should be done so as to improve the effectiveness. This can lead to improved levels and standards of healthcare being provided. As a result the general health of people can improve considerably (CMMM, 2009).
References
Anonymous (2004). Hospital Accreditation, Two Maryland Hospital departments Lose Accreditation. Web.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2009). Certification and Compliance (Hospitals). Web.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2009). State Operations Manual: Chapter 2, the certification process. Web.
JCAHO (2007). Hospitals – Fast Track. Web.
Levine, S. (2007). Southeast Hospital Is Told It Could Lose Accreditation. Web.