The Accredit project
Strengthening organisational performance through accreditation research: the ACCREDIT project
Project Members - Macquarie University
Professor and Director
Professor and Director
Project Main Description
The Accreditation Collaborative for the Conduct of Research, Evaluation and Designated Investigations through Teamwork (ACCREDIT) has been a five year study, conducted July 2010 – June 2015. The ACCREDIT project has shed light on the challenges facing accreditation agencies and their stakeholders in their efforts to advance the sustainability and credibility of their accreditation programs.
Healthcare accreditation programs are used in many countries and different sectors within them such as acute care, aged care and general practice. Programs have a similar format and confront comparable challenges. The evidence base for healthcare accreditation is improving, with more studies underway, and at present is strongest for the acute care sector. Importantly, accreditation, when used by an organisation strategically, can engage staff, promote organisational and clinical performance improvements, and stimulate positive safety cultures. The administrative requirements to participate in accreditation programs are a source of contention for some organisations. Overall, however, across a range of studies, the benefits seem to outweigh the costs.
There are some key challenges for accreditation programs. One is determining how and what accreditation information is publicly reported. Another is to ensure that programs and surveys within them are reliable. Collaborative accreditation research partnerships are important, as they can provide directions for future improvements to programs over time.
Project Contacts
Lead Researchers: David Greenfield, Virginia Mumford, Marjorie Pawsey, Anne Hogden, Debora Debono
Publications
Selected Publications
2016
Hogden, A., Greenfield, D., Brandon, M., Debono, D., Mumford, V., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2016) Does an accreditation program in residential aged care attain, sustain and spread improvement relevant to residents and their families? Conference Paper at the 10th International Organisational Behaviour in Healthcare Conference, Cardiff, UK, 4th-6th April.
Greenfield, D., Hogden, A., Hinchcliff, R. Mumford, V., Pawsey, M., Debono, D., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2016) The impact of national accreditation reform on survey reliability: a two year investigation of survey coordinators’ perspectives, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, accepted 24/12/15.
2015
Mumford, V., Greenfield, D., Hodgen, A., Debono, D., Forde, K., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2015) Development and application of an indicator assessment tool for measuring health services accreditation programs, BMC Research Notes, 8 (363) doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1330-6.
Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R., Hogden, A., Mumford, V., Debono, D., Pawsey, M., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2015) A hybrid health service accreditation program model incorporating mandated standards and continuous improvement: interview study of multiple stakeholders in Australian health care, International Journal of Health Planning and Management, published online 5/6/15.
Greenfield, D., Debono, D., Hogden, A., Hinchcliff, R., Mumford, V., Pawsey, M., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2015) Examining challenges to reliability of health service accreditation during a period of healthcare reform in Australia, Journal of Health Organisation and Management, 29(7): 912-924.
2014
Mumford, V., Greenfield, D., Hodgen, A., Debono, D., Gospodarevskaya, E., Forde, K., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2014) Disentangling quality and safety indicator data: a longitudinal, comparative study of hand hygiene compliance and accreditation outcomes in 96 Australian hospitals, BMJ Open, 4:e005284.
Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R., Banks, M., Mumford, V., Hogden, A., Debono, D., Pawsey, M., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2014) Analysing ‘big picture’ policy reform mechanisms: the Australian health service safety and quality accreditation scheme, Health Expectations, published online - doi: 10.1111/hex.12300.
Hinchcliff, R., Greenfield, D. and Braithwaite, J. (2014) Is it worth engaging in multi-stakeholder health services research collaborations? Reflections on key benefits, challenges and enabling mechanisms, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 26 (2): 124-128.
2013
Hinchcliff, R., Greenfield, D., Westbrook, J., Pawsey, M., Mumford, V. and Braithwaite, J. (2013) Stakeholder perspectives on implementing accreditation programs: a qualitative study of enabling factors, BMC Health Services Research, 13:437.
Mumford, V., Forde, K., Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R. and Braithwaite, J. (2013) Health services accreditation: what is the evidence that the benefits justify the costs? International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 25(5): 606-620.
Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R., Pawsey, M., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2013) The public disclosure of accreditation information: practices and perceptions of opportunities and challenges, Health Policy, 113(1-2): 151-159.
Mumford, V., Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R., Moldovan, M., Forde, K., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2013) Economic evaluation of Australian acute care accreditation (ACCREDIT-CBA [Acute]): study protocol for a mixed-method research project, BMJ Open, 3(2) pii: e002381: 2.
Greenfield D., Pawsey, M. and Braithwaite. J. (2013) Accreditation: a global regulatory mechanism to promote quality and safety, in Sollecito, W. and Johnson, J. (eds), Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care, 4th edition, New York, Jones and Barlett Learning, pp. 513-531.
2012
Greenfield, D., Moldovan, M., Westbrook, M., Jones, D., Low, L., Johnston, B., Clark, S., Banks, M., Pawsey, M., Hinchcliff, R., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2012) An empirical test of short notice surveys in two accreditation programs, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 24(1): 65-71.
Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R., Westbrook, M., Jones, D., Low, L., Johnston, B., Banks, M., Pawsey, M., Moldovan, M., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2012) An empirical test of accreditation patient journey surveys: randomised trial, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 24(5): 495-500.
Hinchcliff, R., Greenfield, D., Moldovan, M., Pawsey, M., Mumford, V., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2012) Narrative synthesis of health service accreditation literature, BMJ Quality and Safety, 21(12): 979-991.
Greenfield, D., Pawsey, M., Hinchcliff, R., Moldovan, M. and Braithwaite. J. (2012) The standard of healthcare accreditation standards: a review of empirical research underpinning their development and impact, BMC Health Services Research, 12(1):329.
Hinchcliff, R., Greenfield, D., Moldovan, M., Pawsey, M., Mumford, V., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2012) Evaluation of current Australian health services accreditation processes (ACCREDIT-CAP): a protocol for a mixed method research project. BMJ Open, 2(4): e001726.
Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R., Moldovan, M., Mumford, V., Pawsey, M., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J. (2012) A multi-method research investigation of consumer involvement in Australian health service accreditation programs: the ACCREDIT-SCI study protocol, BMJ Open, 2(5): e002024.
Braithwaite, J., Shaw, C., Moldovan, M., Greenfield, D., Hinchcliff, R., Mumford, V., Kristensen, M., Westbrook, J., Nicklin, W., Fortune, T. and Whittaker, S. (2012) Comparison of health service accreditation in low- and middle-income countries with those in higher income countries: a cross sectional study, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 24(6): 568-77.
2011
Braithwaite, J., Westbrook, J., Johnston, B., Clark, S., Brandon, M., Banks, M., Hughes, C., Greenfield, D., Pawsey, M., Corbett, A., Georgiou, A., Callen, J., Øvretveit, J., Pope, C., Suñol, R., Shaw, C., Debono, D., Westbrook, M., Hinchcliff, R. and Moldovan, M. (2011) Strengthening organizational performance through accreditation research: the ACCREDIT project, BMC Research Notes, 4: 390.
Project Sponsors
This project was funded through an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project (LP100200586).
Collaborative Partners
The collaboration brings together researchers at MQ, and staff of the Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL), Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (AACQA) (previously the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency), the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the New South Wales Clinical Excellence Commission.
Collaborators
Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS)
Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL)
Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd (ACSAA)
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC)
NSW Clinical Excellence Commission
Project Status
Completed
Centres Related to this Project
Content owner: Australian Institute of Health Innovation Last updated: 11 Mar 2024 6:50pm