The Impact of Accreditation on the Perceived Performance Level of Healthcare Services

Abstract

In many countries, hospitals are undertaking accreditation as obligatory or voluntary measures. It is believed that accreditation positively impact quality of care and patient satisfaction. In Egypt, Patients’ perceptions seem to be greatly ignored by healthcare providers. Therefore, this study is a patient-centered one and gives attention to and explore patient experience and perceptions. The aim of this research is to examine the extent to which accreditation impact the patients’ perceived performance level of hospital services. This was done by measuring and comparing perception of performance among patients in two Ain Shams University hospitals, one accredited and one non-accredited hospital. Two hundred and six (206) patients were interviewed using HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey which include 18 items that include critical aspects of the hospital experience (communication with doctors, communication with nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, cleanliness of the hospital environment, quietness of the hospital environment, pain management, communication about medicines, discharge information, overall rating of hospital, and recommendation of hospital). Results showed that accreditation does improve patients' perceptions of hospital performance regarding all dimensions except communication about medicines.