This year, HFAP, America’s original healthcare accreditation program, is celebrating its diamond anniversary – marking 75 years of leadership in healthcare accreditation and quality improvement. Since its founding in 1945, HFAP has driven advancement in patient safety and quality of care through a collaborative, informative and peer-based approach to the accreditation experience.

“HFAP’s continued success over the years is due in great part to our dedication to creating a supportive and collegial environment when working with different healthcare organizations,” said Gary Ley, Board Chair of HFAP’s parent AAHHS. “We team up with our customers to help them identify areas for improvement, develop targeted strategies, and analyze results to ensure long-term learning and innovation.”

Originally created to conduct an objective review of services provided by osteopathic hospitals, HFAP has grown to work with a variety of healthcare organizations and has maintained its deeming authority continuously since the inception of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 1965.

“Our enthusiastic experts, devoted surveyors and incredible customers have made HFAP’s enduring industry leadership possible these past 75 years,” said Meg Gravesmill, CEO. “It is truly a team effort, and we are committed to preserving our culture of collaboration as we enter a new decade.”

The HFAP Experience

With a relentless focus on education, HFAP provides its customers with clear and direct survey standards, access to collaborative surveyors and support teams, and a comprehensive survey process.

“We believe it is important for healthcare organizations to not only meet the requirements for accreditation, but also fully understand the intention behind each standard,” said Gravesmill. “Our educational resources are designed to address any questions surrounding the standards, provide guidance on real-world applications and showcase best practices.”

In addition, HFAP strives to create a strong relationship with its customers that centers on a sincere, helpful attitude and ongoing expert support before, during and after the survey is complete. 

“The standards support a process of continuous quality improvement based on a cycle of policy review, implementation, assessment of performance, appropriate change management, and effective communications to ensure the focus is always on patient safety and quality of care,” said Gravesmill. “We do not focus solely on a checklist of requirements or take a punitive approach to standards compliance. Rather, we create an open dialogue with our customers through which our teams can provide expert insight and ongoing educational opportunities to enhance an organization’s efficiency and growth beyond the survey experience.”

HFAP offers accreditation for hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and critical access hospitals that includes deeming authority from CMS. In addition, HFAP offers accreditation programs without deemed status for these and other types of healthcare organizations and specialty certification for four levels of stroke care, laser and lithotripsy services, compounding pharmacies, joint replacement and wound care.

For more information on HFAP and its unique approach to accreditation, please visit https://www.hfap.org/.