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Running Head: ACCREDITION PROGRAMS 1

ACCREDITION PROGRAMS 2

Quality Improvement in Health Care Organization

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Introduction

In the wake of an increased concern of the quality of consumer product and services, the necessity to meet the quality standards has grown tremendously. It’s because the quest of quality within hospitals and healthcare providers is paramount. The major concern of accreditation programs are often on issues pertaining quality to meet patient demands. Therefore, accreditation is the conformity assessment practice in which organizations outline standards of performance/ operation and determine their compliance to them (Hamm, M. S., 2007). Following utilization of various programs around the U.S. health programs, many hospitals use Joint Commission Programs. But due to the program’s pressure on workers due to high-level of inspections and nonprofit nature to comply to Joint commission necessities, many facilities are exiting. The organization has also opted to quit and employ the following programs instead.

Alternative Choices

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) – It is a national organization which entails certification programs specified for recognition and service programs suited to various illnesses and medical practices. Additionally, its process of accreditation depends on Health Plan Employer Data, a quantitative outcome tool and IPS (Information and Point of Service accreditation (NCQA, n.d.).

Accreditation Association for Ambulatory HealthCare (AAAHC) – A non for profit organization which develops standards which are utilized in the advancement and promotion of the safety of patients, improve quality of healthcare and ambulatory healthcare’s value. This it accomplishes via education, research and peer-based accreditation processes for these healthcare organizations in addition to ambulatory surgery centers, college student health centers among other centers.

Underwriter Laboratories Inc. - UL Inc. operates as a not for profit organization providing safety related testing for products, training and inspections, certifications among other services.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) Condition

The National Committee for Quality Assurance, NCQA

Among some of NCQA background performance measures are;

· Access and service – guaranteeing the facility’s services are available to all through promotion of affordable fees charged to acquire quality healthcare services.

· Quality Provision – only competent and qualified persons to deliver quality service to maintain the kind of service offered to the public in general

· Health maintenance – it is a measure utilized to describe amount of time required for an individual to gain full health after medical treatment. It allows the organization through feedback mechanisms to gunner for best practices in healthcare provision.

This program necessitates the involved healthcare plans to gather data in the most convenient and standardized manner to promote valid and fair evaluations. This promotes its nature to operate within large organizational personnel, thus suitable for the facility since the area of operations situated has a large population.

Accreditation Association for Ambulatory HealthCare

This program is significant for the organization due to the fact that it incorporates improvement of health workers and personnel education and quality service provided. This is because of the educational and cooperation models affiliation in the program. Among centers highlighted are those providing services like endoscopy and surgery (MGMA, 2011). With a broad recognition and acceptance, this program accredits personnel certification critical for the organization’s operational approaches. Enhancing this certification minimizes patient death via its management system standards. It’s a standard which demand the certification body to document regulation and internal audit plus the systems in place for management reviews assuring proper and quality services to payers and patients (MGMA, 2011). Since the program engages in new provisions’ formation to handle audit, constant improvement and usage of corrective and prevention measures, it consumes a lot of time and resources to implement. This is partly due to modifications in management for compliance reasons and investments for consultants to help in formulating accreditations.

Underwriter Limited Inc. (UL)

Because of these programs that is provides, the organization seeks to utilize its accreditation services since safety and product testing emerges as a significant benchmark for quality within the organizational setting. Independent testing of various products such as drugs reassures patients and other users the organization’s products are of good quality and standard (StandardsProtal.org, n.d.). Additionally, this program will assist in development of new standards such as product testing in compliance with prevailing standards such as the ISO standards by the organization.

Cost – Benefit Analysis

The National Committee for Quality Assurance - To shareholders, payers and patients, NCQA accreditation presents positive outcomes since it aims at helping the organization constantly advance its services’ quality at lower costs (NCQA, n.d.). It is also recognized across many states by meeting their regulatory and performance needs and a deemed status arrangement.

Accreditation Association for Ambulatory HealthCare - This program will be helpful to the organization since it describes the process of pro-active surveillance to observe the organizational compliance to standards put in place particularly those providing people access to timely healthcare service at low costs. The program exhibits a flexibility concept to accommodate organizational innovation through lack of specificity of standards. This encourages introduction of better ways of tackling troublesome and deadly illnesses (Nasca, T. J., et al 2012). Furthermore, the charges to payers and patients for medical services offered are lowered significantly. Third parties are seen to benefit from this due to improved techniques invented to minimize the spread of diseases.

UL Inc. – Drug testing will allow providers to issue exact quality and quantity to patients minimizing mortality levels due to wrong dosage administration and misdiagnoses. Even though the UL Inc. program contains safety standards which emphasize public activity testing significant to the organization, it is expensive. The hospitals’ high cost of testing their products might be imposed on to patients resulting into costly/ unaffordable service acquisition. Alternatively, the hospitals might be forced to seek several financial and human resources to conduct their product testing which reflects into high levels of operations for the organization (StandardsProtal.org, n.d.). Regardless of these, the program is aimed at enhancing quality of healthcare services to all patients to lower deaths and sickness prevalence showing that its advantages surpasses the drawbacks.

Ranking with Rationale - Conclusion

The programs recommended above do not avail significant profit into the organization therefore the hospitals within the organization will embrace Medicare and Medicaid payments by the federal government. Though different organizations benefit in different ways, these programs are critical to the organization due to the large population needing healthcare services and its location in an urban center. NCQA will allow the organization to satisfy people by better quality of services provided, providing affordable services. It will expand the extent at which HealthCare services will be available to the general public providing a better marketing model open to more clients to cater for the large population. This makes it the first ranked and most important accreditation program needed by the organization. Second on the list will be AAAHC, will allow improvement of the organization’s management standards, better quality of services and flexibility to handle even complex healthcare provision. In addition it will offer career development and educational enhancement to improve the workers’ capabilities. The last rank goes to UC Inc. that will ensure all products e.g. drugs and equipment meet required standards through product testing and assurance.

Organizations which appear to advantage from accreditation regard it as a process to learn and improve itself rather than an obligation to complete bureaucratic requirement mandate (Hamm, M. S et al 2007). Inclusion of all these accreditation programs deployment within the organization will improve overall quality and quantity of healthcare provision and encourage diversity in healthcare improvement. By participating in process of accreditation drives the organization towards the initial purpose of improving quality regarding various aspects including leadership, personnel and products.

References

Hamm, M. S., Hamm, M & Associates (2007) Quality Improvement Initiatives in Accreditation: Private Sector Examples and Key Lessons for Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.phaboard.org/wp-content/uploads/QIInitiativesinAccreditation.pdf

Medical Group Management Association, MGMA (2011). The Patient Centred Medical Home Guidelines: A Tool to Compare National Programs. Retrieved from http://www.ncqa.org/portals/0/programs/recognition/pcmh_e8480.pdf

Nasca, T. J., Philibert, I., Brigham, T., & Flynn, T. C. (2012). The next GME accreditation system—rationale and benefits. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(11), 1051-1056.

NCQA (n.d.) About NCQA. Retrieved from http://ww2.ncqa.org/about-ncqa

StandardsProtal.org (n.d.). SDO: Underwriters Laboratories, ANSI. Retrieved from https://www.standardsportal.org/usa_en/sdo/ul.aspx