Accreditation (n.): the action or process of officially recognizing someone as having a particular status or being qualified to perform a particular activity. (Bing definition)
Many of us have had careers in occupations where some sort of accreditation process regularly took place, and passing the accreditation inspection it entailed could be essential to continued business success. Failure to do so could mean hardship or even closure of the business.
Hospitals are entities that are almost universally involved in such a process, and while it is likely that it seldom occurs to us to think about
this process when we think of hospitals, their recurring accreditation is a fact of life that they must deal with, and deal with successfully.
Here's a good "quick" summary of the hospital accreditation process:
https://www.wise-geek.com/what-is-hospital-accreditation.htmHighlights from it:
"If granted, accreditation acts as a sort of “seal of approval” for hospitals. Accreditation is not typically required for hospitals to operate, or even for them to receive government funding, but it can be an asset."
"Benefits of hospital accreditation include better doctor retention and a strengthened ability to attract patients and grant money, among other things."
"Hospitals often elect to participate in hospital accreditation programs as a way of distinguishing their services. Accreditation also can help hospitals identify internal problems, and correct potential pitfalls before they become bigger issues."
"(Accreditation) inspectors are usually medical experts, hospital safety advisers, or others with expert knowledge of how hospitals should be run."
"A hospital that can market itself as accredited by the leading national accreditation body is able to convey to the public that the work it does is both sound and safe." what is covered in an accreditation inspection? From another website: " ... all aspects of operation, HR, medical practice and the physical environment" There are even "specialty" accreditation agencies that will inspect only for a particular area, such as safety or finance or physical rehabilitation, and report only for that area.
Another interesting fact noted from my research: it seemed that state-run hospitals and those associated with larger institutions were more likely to undergo accreditation inspections, often even required to do so by law, more so than private hospitals.
So what might be some consequences of inspection failure? Here's an article describing possible negative consequences, while discussing a real-life instance of hospital accreditation failure. The case is specific to a Georgia hospital, but the example it provides is still likely typical:
https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/consultant-loss-of-hospital-accreditation-can-be-catastrophic/article_169da87d-3eb5-5aca-a4ee-f32409481b07.htmlFrom the article:
"If the accreditation denial is made permanent after the deadline, the hospital would face a crippling financial situation."
"Medicare would stop paying the hospital."
"Private insurers would refuse to pay claims for the hospital’s services."
"When a hospital gets a preliminary denial, state authorities are alerted, which means a state investigation often follows."
" ... any satellite facilities owned and operated by a hospital without accreditation could be in trouble as well."And another real-life example of the fall-out that can come when even a prominent hospital fails its accreditation inspection. It was Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, and while the failure is from some time ago, it still serves as an example of the stress and disruption that can result from such a failure:
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/20/archives/mt-sinai-hospital-fails-inspection-lax-recordkeeping-leads-to.htmlAgain, a hospital's accreditation status is not something we are usually thinking about
as we enter its doors, but it is important, and something we should probably know at least something about
.