Accreditation and Provider Report Cards

Accreditation and Provider Report Cards
Name
Institution

From: (Name)
Title: Director of Patient Advocacy Group
To: (Name)
Subject: Accreditation and Provider Report Cards Healthcare Organizations
Date:
Following the introduction of Medicaid and Medicare Services funded by the government, it was mandatory that all the healthcare institutions to be accredited before funds could be released to the health centers. All the accreditation agencies comply with the regulations set by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). The three principal accreditation agencies in the country are The Joint Commission (TJC), the Det Norske Veritas Healthcare (DNV), Inc and the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP). The Joint Commission focusses on ensuring there is safe and quality care for the American citizens by conducting various voluntary evaluation procedures. DNV, on the other hand, focuses on safeguarding the life and property of the patients and their environment. HFAP ensures patients get high-quality patient care and the health care institutions abide by the recognized standards set by the CMS. Both TJC and HFAP are non-profit organizations while DNV is a private firm ran by the Det Norske Veritas (Meldi, Rhoades & Gippe, 2009).
You can access more information about the three accreditation agencies through the following links.
http://dnvglhealthcare.com/http://www.hfap.org/https://www.jointcommission.org/The increase in demand for transparency in the healthcare systems made accreditation agencies, led by the CMS, instruct all hospitals and healthcare organization to periodically provide provider report cards revealing the quality of managed care plans, long-term care facilities such as the medical laboratories, and the healthcare practitioners.

The report cards were meant to have the patients understand the operations in the healthcare systems and seek better health care. Also, they targeted to have the health care institutions be accountable for their actions. The details in the report cards include primary data that have been directly gathered from the patients and secondary data compiled from records on the financial history and medical audit reports for the healthcare institution. Examples of report cards include the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s explaining the strategies the firm uses to achieve quality care. More information: https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/datainnovations/raceethnicitytoolkit/nm1.jsp
I hope the information above was comprehensive enough to help you gain an understanding of the accreditation agencies and provider report cards presenting in the American healthcare system. In case of any questions feel free to ask.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon
Kind Regards
(Name)
Patient Advocacy Group

Reference
Meldi D., Rhoades F. & Gippe A. (2009). The Big Three: A side by side matrix comparing
hospital accrediting agencies. Industry and Government Relations Committee. Retrieved on October 23, 2016, from https://www.namss.org/Portals/0/Regulatory/The%20Big%20Three%20A%20Side%20by%20Side%20Matrix%20Comparing%20Hospital%20Accrediting%20Agencies.pdf