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Volume 5, Issue 4 (Suppl) Occup Med Health Aff
ISSN: 2329-6879 OMHA, an open access journal Health Congress 2017
October 16-17, 2017
Page 17
conferenceseries.com
October 16-17, 2017 Dubai, UAE
12th World Congress on
Industrial Health, Healthcare and Medical Tourism
Patient safety: Assurance through accreditation?
Fundamentally the process of accreditation has not changed since its emergence in the 1960’s in the US, that being a ‘Stop-
Start’ process where organizations pour enormous resources into on-site surveys, only to tread water between these visits
and allow the implementation requirements to build up. Monitoring compliance via on site snap shots is supported by some
accreditors by required reporting and submissions but is this enough to ensuring continual assurance of patient safety? The
research shows several difficulties in this approach not least of which is the lack of sustained improvement in patient safety.
This presentation identifies that the cost of the current models are often unsustainable due to the significant costs experienced
by both the accreditor and as a result, the accredited organization because of the need for so much onsite surveys. Change
the concept of accreditation, from snap shot review, to continuous access monitoring by the accreditors and the model opens
up huge potential to have a more effective and efficient, impact on patient safety. This paper presents a proposal to make this
a possibility by allowing the accrediting body access to the organizations own internal systems to externally view big data in
real time. Access provides the accreditor with a window into the soul of the organization, allowing for continual monitoring
as deemed required. Continuous organizational access by accrediting bodies and similar external regulators is the next major
step forward for patient safety evaluation. It is recognized that to achieve this, a change is required in the relationship between
the accreditor and the accredited–with organizations required to show an open hand with evaluators working towards a more
supportive role to assist organizations to get it right in real time.
Recent Publications
1.Sweeney J, Brooks AM, Leahy A (2003) Development of the Irish National Patient Perception of Quality of Care Survey. International Journal for Quality in Health Care; 15(2):
163-168.
2.Sweeney J, Heaton C (2000) Interpretations and variations of ISO 9000 in acute health care. International Organization for Standardization. Int J Qual Health Care; 12(3): 203-9.
References
1.Walshe K and Boyd A (2007) Designing regulation: A review. A review for the Healthcare Commission of the systems for regulation and their impact on the performance in seven
sectors and a synthesis of the lessons and implications for regulatory design in healthcare, Manchester: Centre for Public Policy and Management.
2.Braithwaite J, Greenfield D, Westbrook J, Pawsey M et al (2010) Health service accreditation as a predictor of clinical and organizational performance: a blinded, random, stratified
study. Quality and Safety in Health Care; 19: 14-21.
3.Hafner J, et al. (2011) The perceived impact of public reporting hospital performance data: interviews with hospital staff. International Journal for Quality in Health Care ; 23(6):
697-704.
Biography
Sweeney John Sweeney Y is the Director of Research and Development with the Irish Health Services Accreditation Board. He is Lecturer of the Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland. He has acted as the Technical Advisor to the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) on external evaluation. In 2012, he was
appointed as an International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) Expert and in 2013 he was elected to the Board of ISQua.
Sweeney John Sweeney Y
Health Care Informed, Ireland
Sweeney John Sweeney Y, Occup Med Health Aff 2017, 5:4 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2329-6879-C1-036