This document discusses various accreditation programs that can be used by healthcare organizations to improve quality. It analyzes the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), Accreditation Association for Ambulatory HealthCare (AAAHC), and Underwriter's Laboratories Inc. (UL) programs. NCQA focuses on access, quality of care, and health outcomes. AAAHC aims to improve education, certification, and management systems. UL provides product testing to ensure safety. Based on serving a large population in an urban area, the document ranks NCQA as most important for improving quality and access, followed by AAAHC for standards and education, and UL for product testing.

1. Running Head: ACCREDITION PROGRAMS 1
ACCREDITION PROGRAMS 2
Quality Improvement in Health Care Organization
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Introduction
In the wake of an increased concern of the quality of consumer
product and services, the necessity to meet the quality standards
has grown tremendously. It’s because the quest of quality
within hospitals and healthcare providers is paramount. The
major concern of accreditation programs are often on issues
pertaining quality to meet patient demands. Therefore,
accreditation is the conformity assessment practice in which
organizations outline standards of performance/ operation and
determine their compliance to them (Hamm, M. S., 2007).
Following utilization of various programs around the U.S.
health programs, many hospitals use Joint Commission
Programs. But due to the program’s pressure on workers due to
high-level of inspections and nonprofit nature to comply to

2. Joint commission necessities, many facilities are exiting. The
organization has also opted to quit and employ the following
programs instead.
Alternative Choices
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) – It is a
national organization which entails certification programs
specified for recognition and service programs suited to various
illnesses and medical practices. Additionally, its process of
accreditation depends on Health Plan Employer Data, a
quantitative outcome tool and IPS (Information and Point of
Service accreditation (NCQA, n.d.).
Accreditation Association for Ambulatory HealthCare
(AAAHC) – A non for profit organization which develops
standards which are utilized in the advancement and promotion
of the safety of patients, improve quality of healthcare and
ambulatory healthcare’s value. This it accomplishes via
education, research and peer-based accreditation processes for
these healthcare organizations in addition to ambulatory surgery
centers, college student health centers among other centers.
Underwriter Laboratories Inc. - UL Inc. operates as a not for
profit organization providing safety related testing for products,
training and inspections, certifications among other services.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) Condition
The National Committee for Quality Assurance, NCQA
Among some of NCQA background performance measures are;
· Access and service – guaranteeing the facility’s services are
available to all through promotion of affordable fees charged to
acquire quality healthcare services.
· Quality Provision – only competent and qualified persons to
deliver quality service to maintain the kind of service offered to
the public in general
· Health maintenance – it is a measure utilized to describe
amount of time required for an individual to gain full health
after medical treatment. It allows the organization through
feedback mechanisms to gunner for best practices in healthcare

3. provision.
This program necessitates the involved healthcare plans to
gather data in the most convenient and standardized manner to
promote valid and fair evaluations. This promotes its nature to
operate within large organizational personnel, thus suitable for
the facility since the area of operations situated has a large
population.
Accreditation Association for Ambulatory HealthCare
This program is significant for the organization due to the fact
that it incorporates improvement of health workers and
personnel education and quality service provided. This is
because of the educational and cooperation models affiliation in
the program. Among centers highlighted are those providing
services like endoscopy and surgery (MGMA, 2011). With a
broad recognition and acceptance, this program accredits
personnel certification critical for the organization’s operational
approaches. Enhancing this certification minimizes patient
death via its management system standards. It’s a standard
which demand the certification body to document regulation and
internal audit plus the systems in place for management reviews
assuring proper and quality services to payers and patients
(MGMA, 2011). Since the program engages in new provisions’
formation to handle audit, constant improvement and usage of
corrective and prevention measures, it consumes a lot of time
and resources to implement. This is partly due to modifications
in management for compliance reasons and investments for
consultants to help in formulating accreditations.
Underwriter Limited Inc. (UL)
Because of these programs that is provides, the organization
seeks to utilize its accreditation services since safety and
product testing emerges as a significant benchmark for quality
within the organizational setting. Independent testing of various
products such as drugs reassures patients and other users the
organization’s products are of good quality and standard
(StandardsProtal.org, n.d.). Additionally, this program will
assist in development of new standards such as product testing

4. in compliance with prevailing standards such as the ISO
standards by the organization.
Cost – Benefit Analysis
The National Committee for Quality Assurance - To
shareholders, payers and patients, NCQA accreditation presents
positive outcomes since it aims at helping the organization
constantly advance its services’ quality at lower costs (NCQA,
n.d.). It is also recognized across many states by meeting their
regulatory and performance needs and a deemed status
arrangement.
Accreditation Association for Ambulatory HealthCare - This
program will be helpful to the organization since it describes
the process of pro-active surveillance to observe the
organizational compliance to standards put in place particularly
those providing people access to timely healthcare service at
low costs. The program exhibits a flexibility concept to
accommodate organizational innovation through lack of
specificity of standards. This encourages introduction of better
ways of tackling troublesome and deadly illnesses (Nasca, T. J.,
et al 2012). Furthermore, the charges to payers and patients for
medical services offered are lowered significantly. Third parties
are seen to benefit from this due to improved techniques
invented to minimize the spread of diseases.
UL Inc. – Drug testing will allow providers to issue exact
quality and quantity to patients minimizing mortality levels due
to wrong dosage administration and misdiagnoses. Even though
the UL Inc. program contains safety standards which emphasize
public activity testing significant to the organization, it is
expensive. The hospitals’ high cost of testing their products
might be imposed on to patients resulting into costly/
unaffordable service acquisition. Alternatively, the hospitals
might be forced to seek several financial and human resources
to conduct their product testing which reflects into high levels
of operations for the organization (StandardsProtal.org, n.d.).
Regardless of these, the program is aimed at enhancing quality

5. of healthcare services to all patients to lower deaths and
sickness prevalence showing that its advantages surpasses the
drawbacks.
Ranking with Rationale - Conclusion
The programs recommended above do not avail significant
profit into the organization therefore the hospitals within the
organization will embrace Medicare and Medicaid payments by
the federal government. Though different organizations benefit
in different ways, these programs are critical to the organization
due to the large population needing healthcare services and its
location in an urban center. NCQA will allow the organization
to satisfy people by better quality of services provided,
providing affordable services. It will expand the extent at which
HealthCare services will be available to the general public
providing a better marketing model open to more clients to cater
for the large population. This makes it the first ranked and most
important accreditation program needed by the organization.
Second on the list will be AAAHC, will allow improvement of
the organization’s management standards, better quality of
services and flexibility to handle even complex healthcare
provision. In addition it will offer career development and
educational enhancement to improve the workers’ capabilities.
The last rank goes to UC Inc. that will ensure all products e.g.
drugs and equipment meet required standards through product
testing and assurance.
Organizations which appear to advantage from accreditation
regard it as a process to learn and improve itself rather than an
obligation to complete bureaucratic requirement mandate
(Hamm, M. S et al 2007). Inclusion of all these accreditation
programs deployment within the organization will improve
overall quality and quantity of healthcare provision and
encourage diversity in healthcare improvement. By participating
in process of accreditation drives the organization towards the
initial purpose of improving quality regarding various aspects
including leadership, personnel and products.

6. References
Hamm, M. S., Hamm, M & Associates (2007) Quality
Improvement Initiatives in Accreditation: Private Sector
Examples and Key Lessons for Public Health. Retrieved from
http://www.phaboard.org/wp-
content/uploads/QIInitiativesinAccreditation.pdf
Medical Group Management Association, MGMA (2011). The
Patient Centred Medical Home Guidelines: A Tool to Compare
National Programs. Retrieved from
http://www.ncqa.org/portals/0/programs/recognition/pcmh_e848
0.pdf
Nasca, T. J., Philibert, I., Brigham, T., & Flynn, T. C. (2012).
The next GME accreditation system—rationale and benefits.
New England Journal of Medicine, 366(11), 1051-1056.
NCQA (n.d.) About NCQA. Retrieved from
http://ww2.ncqa.org/about-ncqa
StandardsProtal.org (n.d.). SDO: Underwriters Laboratories,
ANSI. Retrieved from
https://www.standardsportal.org/usa_en/sdo/ul.aspx