Definition
Accreditation is a procedure of assessment of the quality of work of a healthcare institution based on the application of an optimal level of established standards of work in healthcare institutions in certain fields of healthcare, or branches of medicine. (Health Care Law, 2005, article 213.)
There is an increasing demand for external, independent assessment of success of health care services as opposed to formally defined set of national standards. Accreditation is the oldest and best known form of external assessment of health care services around the world. Accreditation process applies the standards of excellence, self-assessment and skills of the health care professionals trained and engaged in the surveyors’ teams.
Accreditation helps health care facilities to discover their own advantages and possibilities of progress, and also understand the goals and complexity of their work. After realizing that, facility can start with short-term and long-term plans for improving the results of work and start using the available resources in the most efficient way.
Accreditation involves self-assessment by health care facilities to evaluate their level of efficiency compared to established standards. The surveyors’ team, made of experts, assesses the work of health care facilities. Accreditation process is designed to provide a framework that will enable health care facilities to define and implement the necessary changes and make priorities for continuous improvement of their own services.