We are on a ‘Journey to Excellence’ as our entire team starts to gear up for Accreditation 2022.
For years, Muskoka
Algonquin Healthcare has voluntarily participated in the Accreditation Canada
program to constantly improve the quality of care we provide to patients. “Qmentum
Accreditation” is tool that ensures we are meeting the best standards of care while
also identifying recommendations on how we can improve.
Every four years,
independent surveyors with health care expertise complete a multi-day onsite
survey to examine all aspects of the health care we deliver – from patient
safety and ethics, to staff education and training, governance and partnering
with the community. During this survey, both sites are measured against specific
Required Organizational Practices (ROPs) associated with close to 2,500 national
standards of excellence. An ROP is an essential practice that organizations
must have in place to enhance patient safety and minimize risk. They are
categorized into eight quality dimensions: accessibility, appropriateness,
client-centred services, continuity, efficiency, population focus, safety and
worklife; and 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.
Preparation for
accreditation starts with self-assessments by core teams. The results of individual
staff surveys also help to identify any gaps, supporting our preparation for
the actual Accreditation Canada survey where surveyors evaluate our compliance
with the ROPs and standards that contribute to high quality, safe, and
effectively managed care.
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.
Our most recent survey in
2018 awarded us the highest possible rating: Accredited
with Exemplary Standards,
having met 95.8% of the 2,438 standards. Once again we are striving for the top
award and to demonstrate we are committed to quality improvement, every day.
Our Accreditation 2022
theme ‘Journey to Excellence’ was chosen from a variety of suggestions
generated through a staff naming contest. It is supported by strong branding
that plays on our MAHC acronym with imagery of a person actively on the journey.
Year after year, with the accreditation process, we have continued to build on our commitment to work together to provide outstanding integrated health care to our communities and deliver best patient outcomes with exemplary standards and compassion.
MAHC's Accreditation 2022 logo
