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20 Hospital Accreditation KCE reports 70
The underlying assumptions are as follows:
• public health efforts result in positive changes to health status, and
• accreditation leads to quality improvement that, in turn, lead to the
use of best practices thereby impacting community health (ultimate
outcome)
Figure 3 : Linking public health accreditation and outcomes
Source: 22
The model provides a framework for the investigation of outcome and success of
accreditation. Inputs, strategy, outputs and contextual factors are identified. It allows for
identification and evaluation of each element that may link accreditation and outcome.
Example research questions are presented for each of these at the end of this
paragraph.
Despite the broader scope of this article, a similar way of analyzing the relation between
accreditation and outcome of hospital care might be interesting.
Inputs concern obviously the accredited hospitals. It should be mentioned that besides
accreditation other factors may play a role in producing favourable outcomes.
The model describes 3 levels of outcome. For the use of such an approach in hospital
accreditation focus should be in first instance on “short term” outcome. Intermediate
and long term outcome definitions in this model however should be redefined.
Extrapolation of this experimental model, where the link between accreditation and
outcome is analyzed may importantly define success and credibility of an accreditation
program.