Healthcare Accreditation (Essay Sample)

Healthcare Accreditation Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Professor’s Name Date Healthcare Accreditation Accrediting bodies and accreditation standards represented in various care practices benefit the patients and healthcare systems in multiple ways. This activity explores accrediting bodies in healthcare, focusing on the Joint Commission and Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and examining significant accreditation aspects and how they affect life safety and quality in healthcare practice. CARF International was established in Illinois as a non-profit in 1966 (Hutchisson et al., 2017). CARF’s primary purpose is to offer global accreditation standards for organizations in the human services sector. The commission’s most remarkable development was in 1970 when the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation approved the policy requiring every state agency to attain the goal necessitating that the commission accredits establishments offering rehabilitation services on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (Kohan et al., 2020). Since its inception, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities has grown meaningfully in size and accreditation services. CARF currently accredits over six thousand providers on five continents (Hutchisson et al., 2017). After accrediting programs in South America, Europe, and Canada, the commission informally adopted the name CARF International. Today, the commission offers accreditation services in various areas, including orthotics, prosthetics, medical rehabilitation, durable medical equipment, and opioid treatment programs (CARF International, 2022). Following the survey results, CARF renders accreditation pronouncements. It also prepares a report identifying the agency’s level of conformance to the CARF standards, its strengths, and suggested areas for perfection (Kohan et al., 2020). After receiving the report, the agency submits a Quality Improvement Plan to the commission to show how it deals with the recommended improvement areas. Public reporting of metrics is essential because standard measures guarantee that every agency displaying CARF International’s seal undergoes extensive inspection and systematic auditing, which warrants that the clients can receive high-quality services. Kohan et al. (2020) concurred that under the right conditions, public reporting of quality metrics is crucial as it results in improved quality of care clinicians provide in healthcare facilities. CARF International promotes the value, quality, and optimum outcomes of services offered through continuous development and consultative accreditation processes centered on improving the clients’ life (CARF International, 2022). On the other hand, the Joint Commission evaluates healthcare facilities, organizations, and healthcare experts and challenges them to offer high-value life safety and quality in care practice. It employs self-assessment scoring tools to help the agencies monitor compliance with the standards (Kohan et al., 2020). Apart from the Joint Commission and CARF, Accreditation Commission for Health Care creates accreditation options focused on small providers’ needs. While Det Norske Veritas Healthcare provides care facilities with frameworks to enhance performance and optimize patient safety and high-quality services, the Centre for Improvement in Healthcare Quality offers a full range of web-based accreditation services (Hutchisson et al., 2017). Like the CARF international, the American Osteopathic Association Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program helps healthcare establishments and professionals to uphold the required standards in care and conform to the regulations in the healthcare setting (Asgari et al., 2022). The American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities provides a step-by-step approach when guiding clients through the accredita...