Accreditation Impact on Quality of Healthcare Organization Services and Culture in a Tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: While accreditation is thought to promote healthcare quality, a literature review revealed a scarcity of studies conducted in Saudi Arabia addressing the relationship between accreditation and better care quality and healthcare organization culture. Objectives: This research examined the accreditation effect on care quality and culture presented in King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC), as a healthcare organization, from the perspective of healthcare workers. Methods: The study design is a cross-sectional quantitative using anonymous and self-administered questionnaire for data collection from healthcare employees. The total number of participants was 218. Descriptive analysis was used, including means, range, and standard deviation. Also, the χ² test was used for the association between the variables. Results: The result of the study showed that most of the dimensions associated with quality of care received high ratings. It revealed a significant beneficial association between employees’ perceptions of accreditation and quality of care across all these dimensions. The most dominant culture at KAMC was a group type demonstrated KAMC to be a personal environment. It revealed a strong relationship between employees’ views of the accreditation effect and a group culture type. Conclusion: This study’s findings matched those of a literature review that revealed a relation between accreditation and quality. Accreditation can help foster an organizational culture changing toward a culture that values skill development, cooperation, outcomes quality, and customer satisfaction. Accreditation processes have been found to promote a long-lasting and sustained improvement in quality of care and culture change. It demonstrated the crucial leadership influences in reaching this goal.