The Importance of Accreditation in Healthcare

People rely on healthcare providers to cure their illnesses, and ease their pain and suffering. Nothing less than quality care and services are needed to achieve this goal. Hospitals can assure patients that their healthcare services are, at least, on par with established industry standards, through accreditation. Healthcare accreditation has been defined as “a self-assessment and peer assessment process used by healthcare organizations to accurately assess their level of performance in relation to established standards and to implement ways to continuously improve.”

To provide quality health care to patients is to achieve the optimal results for each one and avoid physician-induced complication, while giving patients and their families the attention they need in a cost-effective and well-documented manner. Accreditation means that the facility can achieve these goals to the level equal to set standards. Accreditation provides assurance to patients that the hospital on which they put their trust can provide them with the highest quality health care.

Accreditation enhances the profile of a healthcare provider while establishing and strengthening community confidence in the quality and safety of the care, treatment, and services it provides.

Accreditation is especially valued by patients with serious conditions, such as cancer. An accredited cancer center is one that’s an authority in the disease, where patients can expect safe and quality care that will yield a positive outcome in their lives.