Perception of hospital accreditation among health professionals in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

BACKGROUNDHospital accreditation assesses hospital performance against explicit standards. Studies of the efficacy of accreditation are limited, but suggest that Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation is efficient in improving the safety and quality of care in accredited hospitals.OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to assess the perceptions of health professionals on the impact of JCI accreditation and implementation of change towards the delivery of quality patient care.DESIGNCross-sectional survey.SETTINGSKing Abdulaziz Medical City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.SUBJECTSBetween June 2016 and September 2016, a validated questionnaire was distributed to physicians, nurses, medical technologists, dietitians, and other allied healthcare professionals. The questionnaire consisted of 19 items covering participation in accreditation, benefits of accreditation, and the quality of results of accreditation. Demographic data collected on the participants included age, gender, educational attainment, profession, length of service, and department.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)Participation in accreditation, benefits of accreditation, and quality of results of accreditation.RESULTSHospital accreditation was given a worthy response from the general view of 901 health professionals. The mean (standard deviation) of scores on a 5-point Likert scale were 3.79 (0.68) for participation in accreditation, 3.85 (0.84) for benefits, and 3.54 (1.01) for quality of results.CONCLUSIONAs perceived by health professionals in our survey, accrediation had a positive impact on the process and implementation of change in the hospital that resulted in improvement in the delivery of patient care and other health services.LIMITATIONSSingle institution study with no comparison made to other small, medium, or large-sized JCI-accredited hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Patient satisfaction before and after accreditation was not included.

Influence of hospital Accreditation on professional satisfaction of the nursing team: mixed method study

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Barriers to implementing antimicrobial stewardship programmes in three Saudi hospitals: Evidence from a qualitative study

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Interface entre acreditação e segurança do paciente: perspectivas da equipe de enfermagem

“…Despite the "evident" relationship between accreditation and patient safety, since the second is one of the central focuses of the quality management system in question, studies which enable better/greater knowledge about the effects of accreditation in different aspects have been recommended by recently published research, and not only in Brazil (7)(8)10,(13)(14)(15) , which means investigating the potentials of this quality certification process, which undoubtedly includes patient safety, still denotes novelty and mainly necessity. Furthermore, even if this gap in knowledge exists, one is based on the empirical principle that there is some relationship, whether positive or not, between the researched phenomena.…”