(Newswire.net — July 22, 2020) — Accreditation is the act of being officially recognized as having achieved a particular status or being qualified to perform a specific activity. Accreditation is a common tool used to ensure quality control in any industry, such as healthcare or community services.
Kevin Priest of Tallahassee, Florida, knows all about accreditation in the community service sector, owing to the two decades of experience he has working with youth services organizations.
How Does Accreditation Work?
According to Kevin Priest, accreditation is the process whereby an accrediting body officially recognizes a program or service as being qualified to earn a particular status. Accrediting bodies can only accredit programs that they have accreditation standards for. Three of the most widespread accreditation bodies in the United States are the Council on Accreditation, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. It’s important to note that being accredited is not a requirement in many industries; however, it does have many benefits, such as making the program more standardized and improving its quality of care, shares Kevin Priest.
How long does it take for an organization to become accredited?
Kevin Priest claims that the average amount of time for an organization to become accredited is between 12 and 18 months. Generally speaking, Priest states that all organizations starting the accreditation process should assume it will take at least one year. The lengthy process is due to a number of factors. For example, when an organization, program, or service decides it wants to seek accreditation, they must first select an accrediting body, conduct a self-assessment, edit or write from scratch different policies, procedures, and plans, make major or minor organizational improvements, and develop supporting protocols.
For some organizations, the accreditation process results in a complete transformation, claims Kevin Priest. If a lot of these elements are already in place, then it’s possible the accreditation process will be shorter, but most people should expect it to take at least one year. Especially when you consider that certain accrediting bodies, like the Council on Accreditation and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International both require that organizations conform to and operate under their accreditation standards for a minimum of six months prior to them conducting an on-site survey.
How do you choose the right accrediting body?
Kevin Priest asserts that the first step of the accreditation process is choosing the right accrediting body for your organization. You might think that this would be simple, but there are actually many factors you should take into consideration before making a decision. That is because each accrediting body likely has a different reputation or focus. Priest recommends taking into account the accreditor’s reputation, the accreditation fee (as some fees are much higher than others), the time required to prepare for the accreditation, and the number of programs you are seeking to accredit (some organizations allow for more than one program to be accredited at the same time).