The Requirements to Obtain Accreditation

Quality Improvement Essay
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Quality Improvement Essay
Introduction
Earning accreditation is the desire of many healthcare facilities in the US. Healthcare facilities need to offer high-quality services to patients. This is the best way of improving the health outcomes of their clients. Accreditation bodies exist to ensure that hospitals consistently deliver the best care possible and continue with the culture of excellence. There are several accreditation bodies for hospitals. One of the most outstanding organizations is The Joint Commission (TJC). Since TJC is a reputable accreditation body, it will be the most appropriate for the healthcare organization under focus.
About The Joint Commission
Founded in 1951, TJC is America's oldest and largest healthcare accreditor (The Joint Commission, 2021). TJC accreditation is challenging to obtain and hence carries prestige, which sets apart organizations that the body has credited. Further, having TJC accreditation creates a competitive advocate for a healthcare facility. If clients choose between a credited and non-credited organization, they will prefer to go to the accredited hospital. Because of accreditation, clients have confidence that an organization strives to ensure quality services (The Joint Commission, 2021). The mission of TJC is continuously improving healthcare for the public by collaborating with stakeholders and inspiring healthcare organizations to offer the highest quality care possible.
The requirements to obtain accreditation.
Firstly, an organization must understand the process. A healthcare facility must take time to know what is expected of them. The TJC website is vital in providing organizations with the comprehensive information they need to know about TJC's standards. After knowing what is expected of an organization, self-assessment is needed to evaluate the facility of programs to determine whether or not they meet the standard policies (The Joint Commission, 2021). If the standard policies are not met, a healthcare facility needs to follow them to make the necessary adjustments.
Secondly, an organization ahold send an application for accreditation. This should be done once an organization has ascertained it is ready to undergo inspection (The Joint Commission, 2021). After TJC processes the request, it sends an email with login information connecting to TJC's website. A healthcare facility needs to provide vital information regarding the organization. Here, an organization should indicate when it wants the on-site survey to take place. It should provide sufficient time to allow changes geared towards the TJC standards.
Thirdly, the healthcare facility must allow for an on-site survey. It is done by a specially trained TJC surveyor or a team of surveyors. These assess the organization's compliance with the TJC's standards. In the survey, the surveyors pick patients randomly and utilize their medical records to determine compliance with the set standards (The Joint Commission, 2021). The surveyors check the patient's experience in the facility. They talk to the healthcare professionals who have interacted with the particular patient. The information gathered allows the surveyors to establish the quality of care offered at every process stage. The surveyors also observe nurses, physicians, and other healthcare staff members involved in the care and treatment of the patients. Accreditation takes time, usually three years for hospitals and two years for laboratories.
The performance or quality metrics
The first quality metric is the safety of care. Healthcare should ensure the safety of the client. Safety of care measures pertains to the incidences of medical mistakes and healthcare-acquired infections (HCAIs). An increase in the number of medical errors demonstrates that the care is not safe for patients (Goldsworthy & Waters, 2017). At the same time, HCAI results from infections that patients get while undergoing treatment. HCAIs increase hospital stays cost of care and may result in death. A healthcare organization needs to put on measures to prevent the spread of pathogens in the facility. For instance, nurses should be required to wash their hands frequently to minimize the spread of infections from one patient to another (Musu et al., 2017). The walls of the wards could be cleaned often to ensure that microorganisms do not stay on the surfaces. In essence, the healthcare facility will focus on improving patient safety by minimizing incidences of medication errors and the acquisition of HCAIs.
The second metric is patient experience, which entails clients' interactions with the healthcare facility. For instance, patients want access to information about care, communication with their providers, and timely appointments. Understanding patient experience is critical towards ensuring that the care p...