Accreditation of the Family Health Unit - Family Medicine PDF

Family Medicine Fifth Year Accreditation of the Family Health Unit ILOS - Identify the process of accreditation. - Identify the difference between licensing and accreditation. - Learn the purpose, and why accreditation is...

Family Medicine Fifth Year Accreditation of the Family Health Unit ILOS - Identify the process of accreditation. - Identify the difference between licensing and accreditation. - Learn the purpose, and why accreditation is needed. - Identify the steps to be taken to fulfill the accreditation criteria. What’s meant by accreditation process? - Accreditation is a process for evaluating the facility according to a set of standards that define activities and structures that directly contribute to improve outcome for individuals, families, and communities by developing, applying, and promoting the highest level of service delivery standards. - If the primary assessment denies accreditation the process will be repeated in 6 months. Partial fulfillment of criteria, to a stated extent would result in provisional accreditation. The process would be repeated in one year. - If the unit is fully accredited the process has still to be repeated after two years to assure conforming to criteria overtime. Fulfilling the accreditation criteria is a joint responsibility of the FHU and the District Provider Organization (DPO) staff. Difference between Licensing and Accreditation: Licensing: This procedure is carried out by legal health authorities or other entities in charge for this purpose. This is usually done only once, prior to the beginning of operations, and defines the local structural requirement. Accreditation: Is a formal process by which an authorized health body assesses and recognizes that a health care organization meets predetermined standards designed to improve quality of care. Three Main Purposes for Accreditation: 1- Quality improvement: Using the accreditation process to bring about changes in practice that will improve the quality of care for patients. 2- Informing decision making: Providing data on quality of healthcare that various stakeholders, policy makers, managers, clinicians and the public, can use to guide their decisions. 3- Accountability and regulation: Making healthcare organizations accountable to agencies such as professional bodies, government, patient groups and society at large, and regulating their behaviors to protect the interest of patients and other stakeholders. Why Accreditation?  It stimulates the improvement of care delivered to patients.  It strengthens community confidence in its health care facility.  It reduces unnecessary costs. 1   It increases efficiency.  It provides credentials for education, internships, and residencies.  It can protect against lawsuits.  It facilitates acceptance for funds from third party payers. The steps to be taken to fulfill the accreditation criteria include the following: Improved infrastructure. Equipment in place according to standards. Enumeration of all the houses in the catchment areas. Creation of the family folders. Comprehensive initial medical examination to all members of the families. Implement the Basic Benefits Package (BBP). Availability of the Essential Drug List (EDL). Implementing quality improvement programs. Medical guidelines and protocols used. Staffing pattern according to standards. Implement staff training. GAHAR General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation https://www.gahar.gov.eg/ 2