Accreditation

General Practice / Allied Health / Radiology and Day Hospital Accreditation

NEED ASSISTANCE WITH YOUR ACCREDITATION?

RACGP Logo
AGPAL Logo
GPA Accreditation Plus LOGO
QIP
NSQHS Logo

The words Accreditation/Re-Accreditation can be daunting to Healthcare Professionals/Practice Managers/Nurses and staff as they can mean many long hours of preparation together with sleepless nights.

We can assist to minimise this stress and take a lot of the hard work off your hands so that you can focus on patient care and the day to day running of your practice.

Achieving accreditation shows patients that General Practice/Allied Health (Physio and Podiatry)/Radiology and Day Hospitals are serious about providing high quality, safe and effective care to standards of excellence determined by the healthcare professional.

As a leader in the accreditation process we will ensure that all criteria are met and completed in a smooth and timely manner with a positive outcome that will not only improve practice performance, efficiencies and outcomes but also reduce business risk.

Other benefits include:

  • Provide credible assurance about the quality of care/service provided.
  • Reduce business risk, ensure compliance with regulators and assist with governance.
  • Create a competitive advantage over practices that are not accredited which can increase market share.
  • Educate and engage staff in the provision of service and build a culture of quality.
  • Enhance patient focus by ensuring the their expectations are met.
  • Can obtain Practice Incentive Program (PIP) only when accredited or registered for accreditation against the RACGP standards for general practice. Practices must achieve full accreditation within 12 months of joining the program and maintain full accreditation thereafter.

Depending on your needs, we can be involved in a variety of ways including (but not limited to):

  1. Initial 2-3 day organisation review assessment including an accreditation checklist.
  2. Reviewing and writing policies and procedures (e.g. Human Resources including employment contracts, job descriptions, orientation programs, performance appraisals and confidentiality policies)
  3. Work Health and Safety including workplace inspection checklist, development of a WH&S Committee, emergency procedures, triage processes, infection control, waste management, risk management/assessment and the risk registry.
  4. The accreditation process from the initial application through to the final site visit.
  5. Provide “MOCK” survey visits.

There are a couple of accreditation frameworks depending on the type of practice/accreditation program.

Accreditation for General Practice.

General practice accreditation is independent recognition that your practice is committed to delivering safe and high quality health care to your patients by complying with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practice.

Accreditation recognises the achievements of health care teams to meet the requirements of established Standards. The process is implemented with the goal of safe, high quality health care and continuous quality improvement of a health care service.

The 3 core criteria which MUST be met if a general practice or health service wants to be accredited against the RACGP standards are:

  1. The practice or health services operates within the model of general practices described in the RACGP definition of general practice
  2. General practitioner services are predominantly of a general practice nature
  3. The practice or health service is capable of meeting all mandatory indicators in the Standards.

The accreditation standards focus on a range of areas including:

  1. Access to care
  2. Information about the practice
  3. Health promotion and prevention of disease
  4. Diagnosis and management of health problems
  5. Continuity of care
  6. Coordination of care
  7. Content of patient health records
  8. Collaborating with patients
  9. Safety and quality
  10. Education and training
  11. Practice systems
  12. Management of health information
  13. Facilities and access
  14. Equipment for comprehensive care
  15. Clinical support processes

To maintain currency practices must undergo accreditation every three years.

There are two agencies that can be used for General Practice accreditation:

  1. Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL)
  2. GPA Accreditation plus

Accreditation for Allied Health, Radiology and Day Hospitals

Agency to be used is:

  1. Quality Innovation Performance (QIP)Day Hospitals are to be accredited under the Australian Health Service Safety and Quality, Accreditation Scheme (AHSSQA) against the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards

The six steps in the accreditation process are typically:

  1. Registration with QIP
  2. Self-assessment
  3. Application for accreditation
  4. On-site or desktop survey assessment
  5. Decision, and
  6. Monitoring and continuous quality improvement

The accreditation cycle length varies depending on the program. Some accreditation and certification programs may also include a mid-cycle review.