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
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