Hospital accreditation: A review of evidence, regulatory compliance, and healthcare outcome measures

Abstract

Background: Hospitals are increasingly under pressure to provide safe and high-quality care at an affordable cost. In response to this challenge, many have adopted accreditation as an internationally recognized tool to facilitate improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety. The objectives of the study were to (a) evaluate the impact of international hospital accreditation in Dubai and (b) inform policy decision-making. Methods: We adopted a literature review, analysis of violation data, and clinical performance measures. Results: The literature review suggests insufficient evidence to link accreditation to healthcare outcomes. We report a gradual increase in hospital violations and an improvement of clinical outcomes over three years, however the improvement in clinical outcome measures were not statistically significant. Conclusions: There is limited evidence to determine the impact of international hospital accreditation. Performance measures for accreditation are needed to validate the contribution accreditation may have on reducing non-compliance and improving clinical performance measures. Further research is needed to explore how well accreditation models fit within the Donabedian framework for healthcare quality.