Improvements during the second cycle healthcare accreditation program in Korea: Toward the global standard for patient safety and quality of healthcare

ABSTRACT

The healthcare accreditation program established in November 2010 has provided a great opportunity to increase awareness of the importance of patient safety and healthcare quality in every clinical process in Korea. However, there have been several problems with the program, regarding the level of accreditation standards, and the objectivity of the accreditation survey and its assessment function during the first cycle of the healthcare accreditation program. Therefore, the process of improvement during the second cycle of the accreditation program has aimed to address the issues raised during the first cycle of the program. These issues include a relatively lower level of accreditation standards when compared with global standards, an incomplete scoring system for survey results, and the reliability of follow-up monitoring of accredited healthcare organizations. Over the past ten years, patient safety has been increasingly recognized as a global issue in the medical field. The upcoming second cycle accreditation program will result in an improved level of patient safety and an enhancement of the patient-centered culture in all healthcare organizations of Korea, in order to align with global standards.