Accreditation / QA

Depending on where you are in the world, you are likely to have industry accreditation in the healthcare sector.  Accreditation may be compulsory, or it may be that there are significant financial incentives for the clinic to be accredited.  Certainly in General Practice, even where it is not compulsory, it is likely that it makes commercial sense to be accredited.

In clinics that we have talked to and worked with we have observed that preparing for accreditation or re-accreditation can be a very stressful process.  Why is this the case?

In our view it is at least in part because accreditation is viewed with a "tick the box" mentality, meaning that the steps taken to meet the standards required by accreditation often do not carry through to day-to-day practice.

In many clinics we have talked to, it is the GPs themselves who are not meeting accreditation requirements (things like not having adequate patient notes), possibly because they are unaware of the requirements, or more likely because they are not reminded of these requirements on a regular basis.

At Standard Practice we believe that the accreditation process should represent almost zero stress if the practice is already operating in a manner that sees it compliant with the standards required by accreditation.  Furthermore, the lead-up period to accreditation is fairly generous, and integrating the steps that need to be taken towards accreditation into the practice procedures should mean little-to-no "last minute" scurrying to prepare for the accreditation process.

Through its integrated document management and task management framework, Standard Practice provides a practical way of (continuously) meeting accreditation requirements.  Standard Practice allows you to easily ensure that:

• Policies and procedures are easy to access and are up-to-date (and can be produced for an inspector/surveyor if required)
• All staff have a clear understanding of what is required of them in their role (including in relation to accreditation standards/requirements)
• The clinic maintains an auditable record that provides evidence of standards being met
• The clinic consistently operates in a manner that meets and exceeds accreditation requirements

 

Imagine

• Preparation for (re)accreditation being virtually stress-free
• Your practice operating in a manner that meets and exceeds accreditation requirements - everyday
• Producing your Policies and Procedures manual for accreditation surveyors at the click of a button
• Being quite comfortable with spot-checks by accreditation inspectors/surveyors (if these are not happening in your region yet, they may well in the future)

Interested in finding out more? Give us a call, have us call you, or let us show you how we can help you make accreditation a breeze.

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