Unit 7 Assignment – Accreditation Plan Table
Instructions
One way an organization communicates with its constituents is by its accreditation. Your department head knows that you are in a graduate program and has asked you to assist the department head that works with accreditation and licensure in your facility. She has asked you to develop an initial plan to gain accreditation for a new facility that your organization is opening. Choose one accreditation that is appropriate for the facility. Write an introductory paragraph then follow it with the initial plan in table format and should include:
• One type of accreditation needed for the facility and in 1-2 sentences, why it is needed for the facility
• Estimate the amount of time it will take for the new facility to attain accreditation
• What resources are needed
• Estimate direct costs for accreditation
• Estimate the financial impact on revenue if not earning accreditation
For example:
Type of Accreditation Time Needed Resources Required Direct Costs for Accreditation Financial impact if Accreditation not Earned
Provide a paragraph under the table with conclusions and any potential limitation of this accreditation.
Please provide 3-4 references from scholarly journals and websites provided in the course. Please make sure its not more than 5 years old.
Sample Answer
Accreditation Plan
With increasing competitive pressures in the market place, a required benchmark of success is demonstrating commitment to continuous improvement and delivery of high quality and safe care to external stakeholders through accreditation. Accreditation from organizations like the Joint Commission is a widely recognized standard for demonstrating and evaluating high quality services. Studies show that accreditation contributes to general quality improvement in healthcare (Melo, 2016). In long term care facilities, it is considered a strategy for reducing risks due to improvements in safety dimensions (Debiono et al., 2017). The table below presents a plan for gaining accreditation for a new long term care facility.
| Accreditation Type | Time Needed | Required Resources | Direct Costs | Financial Impact of lacking Accreditation |
| Traditional long term care accreditation.
It is needed because it encompasses all national consensus based standards for provision of safe and high quality resident/patient care. |
Initial surveys scheduled 4-6 months from reception of application for accreditation. | Tools for conducting self- assessment for identifying improvement areas.
Example; Periodic Performance Review (PPR). |
$1700 Initial Survey deposit (non-transferable, non-refundable)
40% of total 3-year fees after on-site survey. |
Lack of reimbursement from managed care contractors and payers.
Payment denials and higher fines (Williams et al., 2018). |
Conclusion and Potential Limitation
Independent of ownership type and facility type, accreditation status remains a significant predictor of quality across various dimensions in long term care facilities. One limitation is the direct and indirect costs associated with accreditation including time, survey costs, travel expenses and additional resources that must be expended for preparation and sustenance of compliance (Anderson & Lavin, 2018).
References
- Anderson, D., Lavin, P., (2018). Accreditation Basics. Retrieved from Accreditation Basics – The Joint Commission www.jointcommission.org › idev-imports › topics-assets (google.com)
- Debono, D., Greenfield, D., Testa, L., Mumford, V., Hogden, A., Pawsey, M., … & Braithwaite, J. (2017). Understanding stakeholders’ perspectives and experiences of general practice accreditation. Health Policy, 121(7), 816-822.
- Melo, S. (2016). The impact of accreditation on healthcare quality improvement: a qualitative case study. Journal of Health Organization and Management.
- Williams, S. C., Morton, D. J., Yendro, S., & Baker, D. W. (2018). Comparing Public Quality Ratings for Accredited and Nonaccredited Home Health Agencies. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 30(1), 23-29.
