126 Business View - May 2015
vis-à-vis their commitment to improve the quality of
care provided to those it serves.
However, as I say that, for some organizations, accredi-
tation is mandatory. The Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) requires that any
hospital or organization that has a medical residency
program be accredited by Accreditation Canada. In
some provinces and territories, participation in ac-
creditation in voluntary, while acknowledging the re-
quirement of the RCPSC. In the province of Quebec,
however, there is legislation that requires accredita-
tion for public and private health care organizations.
The Quebec government recognizes only two accredit-
ing bodies, and one of them is Accreditation Canada.
BUSINESS VIEW: In terms of the membership that
you have, what is the main value proposition that the
association claims?
NICKLIN:
Our value proposition is that accreditation
improves the quality and safety of the care provided
within an organization. It’s also a risk mitigation strat-
egy. The complexity of health care delivery has inher-
ent risks attached to it, so it’s important to mitigate
those risks. The evidence also demonstrates that bet-
ter quality of care ensures better use of the health
care dollar, whether through cost avoidance or cost
savings. Poor quality costs money. For example, ignor-
ing quality initiatives in the area of infection control is
problematic for everyone in the system. Treatment and
eradication is expensive, it results in poor patient out-
comes, and causes unnecessary duress for patients
and their families. Accreditation also demonstrates
accountability to the public. Publicly-funded organiza-
tions provide services to the public using the public’s
dollar, and accreditation demonstrates their account-
ability and responsibility to make the best use of that
health care dollar while providing quality care.
At the end of an accreditation cycle, we send our sur-
veyors in to assess the organization, validate the de-
gree to which the standards are being met, and render
an accreditation decision. This decision is accompa-
nied by a report which outlines what the organization
is doing well and identifies areas for improvement.
So accreditation becomes a strategic management
tool for the organization, because the report and the
tools and process of accreditation can be used by the
board, leadership, and patient care teams for priority
identification and strategic planning.
The Accreditation Canada accreditation program cross-
es the country and the continuum of care, enabling
some equivalency in the standards of care expected to
be provided and in the understanding, application and
evaluation of quality measures in health care organi-
HEALTHCARE
