Hospital accreditation methods in Iran: Challenges and solutions

Abstract

Objective (s): Hospital accreditation is “an external evaluation of a hospital by an independent professional accreditation body using pre-established optimal structural, process and outcome standards”. The Iranian hospital accreditation program faces some challenges. This study aimed to identify the Iranian hospital accreditation method challenges and provide suggestions for their improvement. Methods: This qualitative study was performed using semi-structured interviews in 2019. Using a pluralistic evaluation approach, 151 policy makers, managers and employees, accreditation surveyors, and academics from ministry of health, medical universities, hospitals and health insurance companies were purposively recruited and interviewed. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Results: Overall, 27 challenges and 17 solutions were identified and grouped into five categories including accreditation time, accreditation method, accreditation duration, accreditation feedback, and accreditation certificate. Giving insufficient time to hospitals to implement accreditation standards, different evaluation methods of evaluators, inefficiency of self-assessment and periodic evaluation, failure to provide detailed feedback to hospitals, lack of supporting hospitals, and a lack of public announcement of results were the main challenges. Some solutions for overcoming these challenges were as setting a specific time frame for accreditation, using a scientific and patient-centered method for evaluation, improving surveyors’ knowledge and skills, independence of the accreditation organization, providing detailed feedback to hospitals, determining a two-year validity for accreditation certificate and public announcement of hospitals’ accreditation results. Conclusion: Iran’s hospital accreditation method faces several challenges. Improving the accreditation evaluation method can increase the credibility and reliability of Iranian hospital accreditation results.