Building an Integrated Automated Accreditation Management Platform: Experience of a Large Tertiary Care Organization

Abstract

Background. Acquiring recognized accreditations is critical for healthcare organizations to demonstrate their competency and credibility. However, the journey can be daunting and time-consuming. Organizations striving to earn and maintain multiple accreditations with different requirements, standards, timeframes, and processes face significant logistical challenges. Integrating an automated accreditation platform facilitates the process.

Objective. This quality improvement project describes the steps to develop an Automated Integrated Accreditation Management Platform in a large tertiary care center.

Method. This quality improvement project was developed and implemented following an organizational performance improvement methodology called IACT that comprises four phases: Identify, Analyze, Change, and Transform. The Automated Integrated Accreditation Management Platform is designed to streamline the process of maintaining accreditation standards across the organization. It centralizes hospital-wide and departmental accreditation information, monitors compliance gaps with accreditation standards, and enables efficient tracking of progress on required tasks. It reduces manual efforts and ensures real-time monitoring of all accreditation statuses. The platform integrates with other organizational systems. The main dashboard gives access to three core components of the accreditation cycle management: 1) Accreditations Data Bank, 2) Compliance Gap Monitoring Module, and 3) Post-Survey Findings Tracking & Escalation Module.

Conclusion. The platform provides a centralized view of the accreditation compliance status and performance metrics, making relevant information accessible to all stakeholders. This transparency helps everyone understand how their contributions impact the accreditation efforts, and fosters shared accountability and commitment across the organization. Automating the accreditation readiness journey offers several benefits, including improving efficiency, accuracy, and consistency.