MAHC is counting down
the days until our 2018 Accreditation Canada survey in early December. Our
teams have been busy gearing up for this external review where independent
surveyors come to our sites to assess and measure our services and practices
against national and international standards of excellence.
Hospitals voluntarily
participate in the Accreditation Canada program to help ensure they are
providing the best standards of care through a survey cycle every four years.
Participating in the accreditation process is about constantly improving the
quality of care we provide to patients by ensuring we are meeting national
standards of care and receiving recommendations on how we can improve. These
standards examine all aspects of health care – from patient safety and ethics,
to staff education and training, governance and partnering with the community.
During our Accreditation
Canada survey, surveyors will measure Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare against
specific Required Organizational Practices within more than 100 best-in-class
standards established by the Health Standards Organization. Required
Organizational Practices are an essential practice that organizations must have
in place to enhance patient safety and minimize risk. These are categorized
into six patient safety areas, each with its own goal, as follows:
Safety
Culture: Create a
culture of safety within the organization;
Communication: Promote effective information
transfer with clients and team members across the continuum of care;
Medication
Use: Ensure the safe
use of high-risk medications;
Worklife/Workforce: Create a worklife and physical
environment that supports the safe delivery of care and service;
Infection
Control: Reduce the
risk of health care-associated infections and their impact across the continuum
of care; and
Risk
Assessment: Identify
and mitigate safety risks inherent in the client population.
To achieve an ‘Accredited’
decision, an organization must meet a minimum of 80% of all criteria, and a
minimum of 70% of high-priority criteria and Required Organizational Practices
in every standard set.
Participating in the
accreditation process demonstrates our commitment to meeting best-practice
standards and ensuring safe, high-quality patient care. It’s about quality
improvement, every day, with everyone who walks through our doors. Accreditation
has evolved to focus greater importance on the patient voice and this is very
much in line with our own focus at MAHC to centre care around patients and
families.
We are looking forward
to meeting the four surveyors who will be with us December 3-7, 2018. While
they are here, they will be engaging with our staff and physicians, and even
patients and families to test our compliance.
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Our theme for
Accreditation 2018 was chosen through a contest where staff submitted ideas. The winning
idea was modeled after the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. As part of our internal promotion, we
adapted the Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius”, which is Latin for “Faster,
Higher, Stronger”. We at MAHC have been working toward “safer care, higher
standards, stronger teamwork” so that your time with us is the best it can
possibly be.
