Accreditation provides home health and hospice agencies the opportunity to exhibit their ability to comply with regulations and standards. It reflects how dedicated and committed an agency is to providing quality healthcare as it sets a benchmark by which its operations will be measured against. It is also a way for agencies to continuously improve their care provision practices, policies, and procedures. In the healthcare industry, there are several recognized and trusted accrediting organizations that promise excellent accreditation experience. It is however important to choose the right fit for your agency’s operations and needs. To help you, we listed down the three accrediting organizations you can choose from.
The Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) is an independent, nonprofit organization which was started in 1965 to provide accreditation to home and community-based healthcare organizations. CMS has granted deeming authority to CHAP to determine and evaluate an agency’s ability to meet CMS standards and Conditions of Participation. The organization prides itself with an easy and straightforward accreditation process. The whole process which takes about 6-9 months is initiated by an online assessment and a site visit that normally takes 1-5 business days, depending on your agency’s size. A CHAP accreditation is valid for three years.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) or what is commonly known as the Joint Commission is a nonprofit organization established in 1951 which certifies and accredits US-based healthcare organizations. The Joint Commission emphasizes that their accreditation is a continuous process which does not start and end with on-site surveys. All throughout the cycle, your agency will be given self-assessment scoring tools to aid you in monitoring your standards compliance. Accreditation decisions are then rendered two weeks to two months after a survey is conducted. Same with CHAP, the Joint Commission accreditation is valid for three years.
The Accreditation Commission for Healthcare (ACHC) started in 1985 as a non-profit organization which provides accreditation to healthcare organizations. To prepare for accreditation, ACHC usually provides agencies with personalized consulting solutions, program-specific workshops, or compliance tools that will allow for a comprehensive review of the agency’s business. Once your agency submits all required information, you can expect to have an on-site survey within 45-70 days with the accreditation decision granted thereafter. Same with the two other organizations, an ACHC accreditation cycle can last for three years.
Data Soft Logic, as the software on your side, recognizes that preparing for accreditation surveys conducted by any of these three organizations might be quite stressful and time consuming. Thus, we have recently launched our Survey Assistance program which aims to help you prepare for your upcoming surveys. To find out how we can be of support, schedule a demo with us now.
.png)
