Understanding the impact of accreditation

He was zealous in his pursuit of quality care for his patients, but I think he would have resisted efforts by non-medically-trained managers and regulators to enforce any kind of control over physicians

My grandfather, an eminent internist who practiced in Los Angeles, CA, never lived to practice in our modern era of managed care and evidence-based medicine. He used to joke that the reason he never had malpractice insurance in the early days of his career was that he wasn’t doing any malpractice then.

I know that he resented the growing intrusion of lawyers and legislators into medicine over his years of practice. He was zealous in his pursuit of quality care for his patients, but I think he would have resisted efforts by non-medically-trained managers and regulators to enforce any kind of control over physicians.

I’m not sure what my grandfather would have thought of the path my professional career had taken in the modern patient safety movement, with its reliance on a systems approach to reducing harm, and use of methods and insights from nonmedical industries. I know he would have argued with me about the patient experience advocacy, stressing that his practice of healing patients was precisely about all that. I suspect that he, like many or perhaps most physicians of his generation, would have felt that nothing was needed beyond heeding the admonition to “First, do no harm.”

He never knew I would go on to become a healthcare executive with a passion for the delivery of excellent clinical outcomes and great patient experience driven by safe care, but I feel confident in assuming that he would not have thought there should be such a thing and certainly would not have believed that his non-doctor healthcare executive favorite granddaughter had any business working or writing in the field of patient experience and safety. I don’t believe he would have thought there was much value or legitimacy to allowing regulators and accreditors to force changes in medical practice.

I’m sure some readers are, at this point, thinking what a wise man my grandfather must have been. I believe he was an excellent physician, and he was, in many ways, very wise. And, it’s human nature to prefer not to be told what to do — a sentiment that tends to be stronger among proud, highly trained professionals. It is not surprising, therefore, to find a certain tension between the culture of medicine and the demands of health care accreditation and regulatory bodies. But I hope to convince readers that he would have been wrong to resist a role for accreditation and regulation in improving the quality and safety of health care.

Accreditation will make it easier for the patient to consider if the facility is worth visiting. If a patient is a making a choice between two healthcare facilities that provide similar services, accreditation will most likely tip the balance towards being the one the patient chooses.

More patients are looking for more affordable care outside of the borders of their own country. But affordable care must come with safe, reliable care. International accreditation plays an important role for such individuals who travel for care because it acts as a credibility stamp for the medical traveler to ensure that the institution will provide safe and quality care.

Medical tourism facilitators take the time to assess standards of care in foreign destinations. Before sending patients to a foreign destination for a procedure or treatment, facilitators carefully research the healthcare provider. Individual medical travelers are advised to choose facilities that have earned accreditation. Patients really are the biggest beneficiaries of accreditation among all the stakeholders. For a patient it means that the healthcare facility has been certified for safety and quality.

It is, however, important to understand one important aspect of accreditation. If the hospital is accredited, does this mean that your physician is accredited? No, it does not. Most accrediting organizations do not accredit individuals. Doctors need to be licensed by local medical boards, specialty societies or similar entities. Using an accredited hospital or clinic greatly increases the chances that your doctor is properly credentialed.

With over 30 years of experience in patient care, healthcare marketing, business development and hospital operations, Marilen Tronqued-Lagniton is a Certified Lead Auditor for ISO 9001:2015. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from St. Theresa’s College in QC, Philippines; completed the MBA for Healthcare Administrators at the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA; Completed the Patient Safety Officer Course, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) & Harvard School of Public Health (T.H. Chan) in Cambridge, MA; Completed the Advanced Leadership Program for C-Suite Leaders, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). Email: mtlagniton@gmail.com.