Accreditation and international perspectives

Abstract

Accreditation, whether from a United States or international perspective, is a multidimensional process with a goal of assuring and improving quality with regard to personnel qualifi cations, study performance, reporting of results and quality assurance programs. Depending upon the location of the facility, accreditation can be more likely to be performed by governmental agency compared to being overseen by a legislative process. Furthermore, the benefi ts of accreditation can vary from preferential access to resources to punitive actions regarding reimbursement. The European process tends to be one that is regulated and overseen directly by the government with preferential access to resources as opposed to the process in the United States which has been implemented by organizations meeting legislative standards with the potential for punitive action regarding reimbursement at the facility level. From both perspectives, the future vision is one of a continuous process built into the daily operations of the facility and following a continuous improvement algorithm.