The future of USA hospital accreditation

The traditional model of hospital accreditation in the USA is under scrutiny, after numerous incidents in US hospitals which continue to receive accreditation to accept and treat patients. DNV GL Healthcare has now published a white paper on the future of hospital accreditation.

The Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Wall Street Journal are investigating numerous incidents of hospitals with quality problems that continue to receive accreditation to accept and treat patients.

Safety has become a paramount issue in healthcare delivery. At least 250,000 deaths per year in the USA are attributed to medical errors. Globally the number may be millions. As the population ages, more Americans will be treated in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

In a new white paper, “Safeguarding Hospital Quality,” DNV GL Healthcare asks a key question: Is traditional accreditation enough, or do we need a new model for today’s hospitals that will dramatically improve the quality of care and the safety that hospital patients should expect?

The accreditation of hospitals and healthcare facilities is often systematic. The most common forms of accreditation have not changed in years, if not decades. And if a state agency is performing the accreditation during periods of tight budgets, it can be up to five years between surveys.

The white paper discusses the emphasis DNV GL places on continuous quality improvement, as well as the use of the ISO 9001 quality control system. DNV GL has adapted ISO 9001 for use in the healthcare system.

Safeguarding Hospital Quality tries to answer the question of what direction providers should take in order to ensure the safety of patients into the future.

Hundreds of hospitals across the USA have switched to DNV GL Healthcare over the past decade, making it the nation’s fastest-growing accrediting body, with over 500 hospitals accredited.