Impact of Healthcare Accreditation Using a Systematic Review: Balanced Score Card Perspective

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of healthcare accreditation and to provide empirical evidence to validate positive effectiveness. Methods Six electronic databases (KERIS, KoreaMed, NDSL, Ovid-medline, Embase, Cochrane library) were accessed in May 2016. Keywords used were âaccreditationâ and âJoint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO)â. Of the initially identified 3,008 articles, 60 studies on healthcare accreditation were selected based on inclusion criteria that are hospital accreditation, accreditation by disease and clinical center accreditation. These were retrieved and analyzed. Result The 60 study results were on the impact of healthcare accreditation. Results were classified into four perspectives of Balanced Score Card (Financial, Customer, Internal Process, Learning & Growth). In internal process perspective, results revealed that healthcare accreditation has made a positive impact on âcare process and procedureâ. In learning & growth perspective, healthcare accreditation has made a positive influence on âleadershipâ, âorganizational culturesâ and âchange mechanismsâ. However, it revealed that healthcare accreditation does not directly affect financial performance. It is also difficult to reach a definitive conclusion that healthcare accreditation programs affect patient satisfaction of customer and clinical outcome of the internal process. Conclusion Healthcare accreditation programs provide positive impact on change of care process and building communication-oriented hospital culture. However, more rigorous and diverse research is needed on financial effects and clinical outcomes of healthcare accreditation. Key words: Accreditation ã Healthcare quality ã Access ã Evaluation