The benefits of outsourcing for hospital accreditation

Hospital accreditation is the most intensive accreditation process for medical providers, which is repeated more frequently than other accreditation standards and which involves more organization contacts and supporting documents. The amount of staff time and expense of researching each medical provider can be heavy, depleting resources from other administrative functions and requiring experienced staff and access to research resources. However, hospitals have been slower than other medical organizations to outsource the accreditation process, despite the potential benefits: faster turnaround time, cost effectiveness, and time savings and staff training.

Hospital accreditation covers the most detailed questions of any accreditation standard, from medical school to the entire provider career. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) creates manuals that describe the accreditation processes for all the different medical providers within an institution. Prohibited areas must be verified to meet JCAHO standards. This involves direct contact with the provider’s partner organizations, as well as receiving copies of all certificates and licenses. All of these areas need to be checked:

• DEA certificates
• All state licenses and penalties
• Negligence insurance and claims history
• Trainings, internships and residencies
• Board certifications
• Medical education
• All past and current hospital privileges
• Work history (verified by direct contact)
• Medicare sanctions or exclusions
• Peer references

Both the contact results and supporting documentation are collected to create a final profile report for the provider, which is submitted to the accreditation committee for review. Any warning signs or previous problems with the supplier should be communicated specifically with the committee.

Most hospitals still perform accreditation verification internally. If they have full access to the information resources and money and man hours available to dedicate staff, in addition to having experienced staff to do so, internal accreditation can be as quick and complete as outsourcing it. Most hospitals do not have those resources or need to allocate them elsewhere. Furthermore, hospitals take responsibility for any mistakes or oversights made during the accreditation process, and those mistakes can affect the results of future audits, leading to reprimands or penalties.

Accreditation Verification Organizations (CVO) allow hospitals to outsource the accreditation process for all medical providers, such as physicians, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, nurses, and mental health specialists. CVOs dedicate resources and training to accreditation, which means that staff are experienced, meet appropriate standards, and have access to verification resources. Hospitals can better use their staff and finances, while reducing hospital liability for errors. Additionally, CVOs can offer support services in addition to accreditation, which can make managing audits, license renewals, and other processes more efficient.

There are minimum services CVOs must offer to hospitals:

• Compliance with JCAHO standards.
• Minimum number of contact and organization attempts.
• Adapt processes to incorporate hospital requests and specialized information requirements.
• Profiles completed with no unverified sections.
• Improved response time, generally within 60 days.
• Quick notification to committee of problem files.
• Quick response to questions or problems.
• Web access to profile reports and verification documentation, as well as hard copies.

Quality CVOs offer other beneficial and resource intensive services to hospitals:

• Surveillance between an initial accreditation process and the first reconnection process for any disciplinary action or sanction.
• Routine notification to regain accreditation and expired deadlines.
• Assistance during internal or external audits.
• Training and consulting for internal accreditation.

Using a CVO for medical provider accreditation saves hospitals time in staff hours, money and resources, and also offers support services such as audit support and provider oversight to detect penalties or issues even later. of completing accreditation, which a hospital may not be able to maintain. internally. Hospital accreditation standards are the most stringent and detailed of the medical provider accreditation standards. CVOs can remove the burden of meeting those standards for hospitals through dedicated resources, expertise, and support services.