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AMSANT Administration Manual
for Aboriginal Primary Health Care Services in the Northern Territory |
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Accreditation of Health Services
Disclaimer
Overview
Quality improvement (QI) and accreditation are increasingly becoming part of service funding and licensing agreements across all industries. It is imprtant for all services to be aware that the intent of OATSIH is to make accreditation a condition of funding for all ACCHSs funded by them.
QI and accreditation use standards which are broad statements of what is expected of an organisation. They describe and outline ways of providing a service that support high quality, safe and effective care.
Standards can be used formally and informally:
- to plan programs and services
- to improve, review and evaluate program and service development
- as a quality improvement tool
- in preparation for and undertaking accreditation
- as an educational tool for staff.
QI is an internal process which includes looking at how things are done, thinking how they can be done better (improved) and developing ways (systems) for working effectively.
Accreditation is formal recognition that certain standards have been achieved by an organisation. An accreditation system needs to have:
- an approved set of standards
- a review process that assesses the extent to which the standards have been achieved and
- criteria which guide the awarding of accreditation.
Accreditation is currently voluntary. It is up to each organisation to decide whether it will seek accreditation. Participation in the accreditation system is open to all ACCHOs. It is awarded for 3 years so it is a continuing process.
Examples of Quality Improvement Programs
ACCHSs undertaking Healthy for Life program undertake Continuous Quality Improvement Initiative (CQII) as outlined in their service agreement.
Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease Extension (ABCDE).
ABCDE is a research program focusing on systems to improve chronic disease management in remote health clinics.
Some services have developed their own internal quality improvement programs.
Accreditation Agencies
The following agencies are responsible for the setting of standards:
- Quality Improvement Council Quality Improvement Council (QIC).
- Royal Australian College of General Practitioners – Standards for General Practice (RACGP-GP)
- The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd (ACSAA) for residential services
- Home & Community Care (HACC) – Commonwealth program
- National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC).
- Disability Standards – Commonwealth Family & Community Services program
- National Mental Health Standards (NMHS).
Contact details are in the PHC resource section
These agencies then contracts Licensed Providers to organise and conduct the Review Cycle that leads to accreditiation.
Licensed Providers
1. QIC
QIC sets standards for community health services and licences the following agencies to facilitate the process leading to accreditation:
- Institute for Healthy Communities Australia (IHCA) – Queensland & NT
- Quality Management Services (QMS) - NSW, SA, Tasmania and WA
- Quality Improvement & Community Services Accreditation (QICSA) - Victoria
2. RACGP
The RACGP sets standards for General Medical Practice and licenses the agencies to facilitate the process leading to accreditation:
- Australian General Practices Accreditation Limited (AGPAL)
- General Practice Accreditation (GPA Accreditationplus)
Accreditation to RACGP standards allows services to access Practice Incentive Program (PIP) payments from Medicare.
ACCHOs who wish to become a GP training site need to get accreditation through:
3. Other Standards Processes
These (see above) provide various training and other processes for assessment. These requirements are often included in services funding agreements. Services should contact their appropriate funding officers.
Future Developments
Currently a range of organisations including the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health (CRCAH) and ACCHS peak bodies are investigating the details of a streamlined and comprehensive accreditation process for ACCHSs. OATSIH have an intent of making accreditation a condition of funding by 2011. This site will be updated when further inforamation becomes available.
The Aboriginal health sector is involved in the delivery of a wide range of services and currently the commonly used accreditation systems (RACGP and QIC) do not cover many of these services. However, both locally and overseas there are good standards operating (eg Youth program) that could be incorporated into a more streamlined accreditation process for all services whilst avoiding wasteful duplication.