If approved, DNV Healthcare (a division of DNV, an independent foundation "dedicated to safeguarding life, property and the environment") stands to become the first new option for hospital accreditation in over 40 years. The Joint Commission, AAAASF and AAAHC are the existing deemed-status survey organizations; of the three, only the Joint Commission is able to accredit hospitals.
"This is a turning point, not just for us, but for the many hospitals seeking a new approach," says Yehuda Dror, president of DNV Healthcare. "Healthcare spending is over two trillion dollars a year, yet preventable medical errors are still on the rise. Hospitals don’t need more pressure to improve, they need the tools that will help them change the system from within. If we can innovate the accreditation process, we give hospitals the key to systemic change."
DNV has developed the National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare
Organizations program (NIAHO), which blends ISO 9001 quality management with Medicare’s Conditions of Participation for Hospitals. The result, says the company, is a more streamlined accreditation process that captures best practices and turns them into standard practices across the organization, leading to sustainable, continual improvement.
DNV’s release reports that, according to the notification from CMS, the formal review period commenced March 12; the public comment period will begin in late April, when the notice is expected to be published in the Federal Register.
