The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has authorized five organizations to survey hospitals for their compliance with the Conditions of Participation. An article on the FacilityCare website, compares the different entities.

The five are: 

• AAHHS: Accreditation Association for Hospitals/Health Systems Inc. 

• CIHQ: Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality 

• DNV: Det Norske Veritas 

• HFAP: Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program 

• TJC: The Joint Commission

Some distinctions between the organizations are: 

• The AAHHS focuses on small and rural hospitals and critical access hospitals

• CIHQ's standards and requirements are mirrored after the Medicare Conditions of Participation and interpretive guidance found in the CMS State Operations Manual

• HFAP surveys are collegial, collaborative and educative

• Representatives of TJC say this is the only accreditor that supports its accredited organizations that have a serious adverse event with advice from safety experts

Read the article.