Accreditation Decisions Research Articles

Policy Changes

In April, the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems Board of Directors met by GoToMeeting. Because of the coronavirus, like many other organizations, the board was able to conduct business electronically and provide accreditation decisions for 12 programs that had been site visited in the January-February time frame. There were 3 additional programs that were placed on approved extensions as the coronavirus threat increased and “social distancing” and “stay-at-home” polices were enacted.

Developing a Taxonomy to Compare Engineering Leadership Curricula Across Canadian Universities

This paper analyzes the curriculum of engineering leadership offerings in Canadian universities. We operationalize an adapted version of Lattuca and Stark’s (2011) academic plan framework to analyze key documents of engineering leadership offerings embedded in the engineering curriculum in six different universities. In the process, we generate relevant categories for comparison that are specific to engineering leadership curricula, leading to a preliminary taxonomy for leadership education in a professional field. Using the process and taxonomy developed, findings show a range of purposes, content and sequencing, with a common core of instructional processes and resources. We also explore how accreditation, labour markets, internal resources and relationships shape curriculum decisions. This paper highlights changing trends in engineering education related to leadership skill development and provides insights for professional education more broadly on the influences and practical implementation of these changes.

Impact of accreditation on performance of healthcare organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the accreditation research in specific to its effect on the performance of healthcare organizations.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive search and analysis of literature on the effect of healthcare accreditation were conducted between June 2017 and May 2018. The study identified 62 empirical research studies that examined the effect of healthcare accreditation programmes. Study particulars such as year of publication, objectives, focus of the study, research settings and key findings were recorded. A content analysis was performed to identify the frequency of the main themes in the literature. Knowledge gaps needing further examination were identified.FindingsMajority of the accreditation impact studies were carried out in the developed nations (n = 49). The thematic categories, that is the impact on “patient safety and healthcare quality” (n = 26), “healthcare professionals’ views” (n = 28) and “clinical process and outcomes” (n = 17) were addressed more times. Whereas the other two thematic categories “organizational performance” and “consumers’ views or satisfaction,” each was examined less than 10 instances. This review reveals mixed views on effect of healthcare accreditation. The varied quality of studies and the availability of a few studies on consumers’ perception of accreditation effectiveness were the important limiting factors of this review.Originality/valueThe findings are valuable to healthcare managers and hospital administrators in accreditation decisions, whereas findings are of value to researchers and academicians in terms of gaps identified for future research studies pertaining to the impact of healthcare accreditation. Future studies need to consider holistic theoretical frameworks for assessing the effect of accreditation on performance of healthcare organizations to achieve precise results.

The association of imaging equipment age with other quality metrics and successful laboratory accreditation by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission.

Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) accreditation is granted or delayed depending on the fulfillment of several quality metrics. Investing in up-to-date equipment might reflect a commitment to quality. Data from echocardiography (n=3079) and nuclear cardiology (n=1835) accreditation applications submitted between 2012 and 2014 were evaluated to determine the mean age of laboratory equipment. Laboratory quality was assessed by the number of missing quality metrics, and a composite quality score was calculated as the sum of missing quality metrics. A lower score thus represented better laboratory quality. The relationship between equipment age and quality was explored as an interaction term between equipment age and the composite quality score and was incorporated into regression models for prediction of accreditation status. During the study period, 49% of echocardiography and 42% of nuclear laboratories were granted accreditation without delay. For both echocardiography and nuclear laboratories, there was a statistically significant trend toward an increasing number of missing quality metrics with increasing quartiles of equipment age. The interaction between equipment age and the composite quality score was a significant predictor of delay of accreditation for both echocardiography and nuclear cardiology laboratories, with a stronger association for 1st-time applicants. Among sites applying for accreditation in both modalities simultaneously, accreditation in one modality predicted the accreditation decision for the other. Laboratory quality is an important determinant of IAC accreditation, and equipment age is an effect modifier of this relationship. Contemporary equipment likely reflects a commitment to quality, for both echocardiography and nuclear laboratories.

Who is in charge? Jurisdictional contests and organizational outcomes

AbstractWe explored how professional jurisdiction contests influence organizational outcomes by examining how Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) schools in the USA were impacted by a policy pursuing educational upskilling. While others have focused on boundary work at the field and work levels, we argue that contests between professions also influence important organizational outcomes. We detail how the profession’s accreditation decision requiring schools to provide Master’s degrees within a 17 year window took place in the context of physicians historically battling CRNAs. We provide an analytic narrative illustrating the history of this jurisdictional dispute, and empirically examine how CRNA schools with cultures differentially supportive of physicians’ field-level dominance responded to the requirement of educational upskilling. Our analysis indicates that the timing of a school adopting a graduate program was influenced by whether the organizational culture, represented by organizational ownership, supported physician dominance. We also highlight the importance of access to resources as another conduit for boundary work impacting organizational outcomes.

A Consensus Position Paper From REAL-PANLAR Group About the Methodological Approach for the Accreditation Process of Centers of Excellence in Rheumatoid Arthritis in Latin America.

By 2015, the World Health Organization reported that 1% of the world population suffered from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in Latin America (LA) between 0.5% and 1%. Previously, in May 2014, a consensus meeting was held in Barranquilla, Colombia, where the Project for Implementation and Accreditation of Centers of Excellence (CoE) in RA in LA was established, which then became an official special group of the Pan American League of Associations for Rheumatology (PANLAR). The aim of this study was to define the methodological approach for the accreditation process of CoE in RA in LA. A meeting was held in April 2015 with participation of the members of the REAL-PANLAR Steering Committee, and representatives of several LA countries, with the support of 2 experts in accreditation processes and models in Colombia. Then, in November 2015 in San Francisco and in November 2016 in Washington, the REAL-PANLAR Steering Committee met to discuss some final aspects of the project. The following steps for accreditation were defined: application for accreditation, issuance of the concept of assessment of the entity, accreditation decision, and monitoring accreditation. This is the second REAL-PANLAR consensus paper with the purpose to define the parameters for the accreditation process for future CoE in RA in LA.

Citation and Characteristic Analysis of Physician Assistant Programs Placed on Accreditation-Probation, 2015-2017.

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) is responsible for accrediting the current 236 entry-level physician assistant (PA) programs in the United States. This study analyzes citations levied against PA programs by the ARC-PA and how those citations relate to the commission's ultimate accreditation decisions; in addition, this study compares PA program characteristics and assesses those characteristics as they relate to recent accreditation outcomes. This study used citations for specific violations of ARC-PA Standards to analyze the ARC-PA's accreditation decisions from September 2015 through September 2017. The institutional characteristics of programs that received an accreditation-probation decision were compared with those that received an accreditation-continued or accreditation-provisional decision. Where possible, outcome decisions were benchmarked using national data obtained from publications distributed by the Physician Assistant Education Association. On average, programs that were placed on accreditation-probation during the time frame of this study had received their initial accreditation 16 years before being placed on probation. Altogether, 393 citations were levied against those programs (range: 2-60 citations; median: 13.5 citations). Physician assistant programs that were awarded provisional or continued accreditation were cited for slightly different Standards violations than PA programs that were placed on probation. The average 5-year pass rate for students taking the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination for the first time was not very different for students from PA programs that were placed on probation and all other programs. Faculty members, institutions, and entities that support PA program development can use this information to compare PA programs. The results of this study can help PA programs identify areas of frequent noncompliance with the ARC-PA's Standards; provide context that PA programs can use to assess their performance against other programs in the accreditation process; and help PA programs identify areas in need of priority attention nationwide.

A data‐driven method for rating management information systems journals in the same scale of the Association of Business Schools Journal Guide

AbstractAn appropriate measurement of journal quality is essential in accreditation, funding allocation, hiring, merit pay, tenure, and promotion decisions in academics. The current best practice to rate journal quality is to combine journal bibliometrics with expert assessment. For example, the Association of Business Schools (ABS) Journal Guide generated by this method is widely used by many business schools. However, different journal bibliometrics calculated in the citation network sometimes provide inconsistent ranking, and it is hard for domain experts to utilize the conflicting information. Therefore, given a journal, if the ABS Scientific Committee members are not familiar with it and different journal bibliometrics provide conflicting information, the given journal is hard to be rated and will not be included in the ABS journal list. In order to solve the above issue and maintain a comprehensive list of journals in the management information systems (MIS) field, this paper proposes a data‐driven method to predict the ABS rating based on six popular bibliometrics for any given MIS journal. To the best of our knowledge, our method is the first work on this type to predict ABS ratings, which can serve as a more reliable rating reference and is much easier to be used to generate the rating for a comprehensive list of journals in the MIS field. In this paper, comprehensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the rating performance of our method from four different perspectives, including new journals, top journals, and interdisciplinary journals, and identifying overrated and underrated journals by ABS. Experiment results show our method can provide very reliable estimated ABS ratings for most MIS journals with few exceptions. Since our method is not perfect, expert knowledge is encouraged to be included to correct our estimated ABS ratings. However, such correction must be conducted under the following two constraints. First, domain experts must have sufficient evidences to do the correction. Second, correction can be adding or subtracting 1, but not beyond 1.

Orthopaedic Resident Surgical Case Log Disparities Observed in the Next Accreditation System.

With the institution of the Next Accreditation System (NAS), case log procedures fundamentally changed. Unless multiple entries are made, only one procedure per case is credited for procedure counts. We hypothesized that the NAS caused notable changes in national procedure data. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Orthopaedic Surgery Case Logs National Data Reports from 2008 to 2016 were analyzed to calculate differences in case log data before and after NAS implementation. In the first academic year post-NAS, the average total procedures decreased by 36%. Total procedures increased the following 2 years but still represent a decrease of >30% from pre-NAS data. An average of 580 fewer total procedures per resident were reported in the 3 years post-NAS (P = 0.001). Regression analysis showed notable decreases in credited procedures in all but two categories. The decrease in logged procedures with the NAS may be related to new guidance, resident logging habits, an actual decrease in surgical experience, or unknown causes, or combinations of these factors. A new baseline of case data may be emerging post-NAS. To ensure the highest quality education, NAS case logs warrant continued study to determine how the data should be used in residency education and accreditation decisions.

Quality Improvement and Performance Management Benefits of Public Health Accreditation: National Evaluation Findings.

To identify the quality improvement (QI) and performance management benefits reported by public health departments as a result of participating in the national, voluntary program for public health accreditation implemented by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). We gathered quantitative data via Web-based surveys of all applicant and accredited public health departments when they completed 3 different milestones in the PHAB accreditation process. Leadership from 324 unique state, local, and tribal public health departments in the United States. Public health departments that have achieved PHAB accreditation reported the following QI and performance management benefits: improved awareness and focus on QI efforts; increased QI training among staff; perceived increases in QI knowledge among staff; implemented new QI strategies; implemented strategies to evaluate effectiveness and quality; used information from QI processes to inform decision making; and perceived achievement of a QI culture. The reported implementation of QI strategies and use of information from QI processes to inform decision making was greater among recently accredited health departments than among health departments that had registered their intent to apply but not yet undergone the PHAB accreditation process. Respondents from health departments that had been accredited for 1 year reported higher levels of staff QI training and perceived increases in QI knowledge than those that were recently accredited. PHAB accreditation has stimulated QI and performance management activities within public health departments. Health departments that pursue PHAB accreditation are likely to report immediate increases in QI and performance management activities as a result of undergoing the PHAB accreditation process, and these benefits are likely to be reported at a higher level, even 1 year after the accreditation decision.

Corrigendum

N. Guevremont, M. Barnes, and C. E. Haupt, “Physician Autonomy and the Opioid Crisis” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 46, no. 2 (2018): 203-219. DOI: 10.1177/1073110518782922 . In the above article, on page 214, the paragraph at the bottom of the right hand column should read: Unlike other areas where legislators have curtailed physician autonomy, in the opioid context, medi cal professionals played a role in creating the crisis to which legislators have responded. In the 1990s, physicians began prescribing opioids at increasingly high rates in a response to a larger national push to treat patients' pain more aggressively. This pressure was abetted by an influential campaign by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (a private organization whose stan dards and accreditation decisions are adopted by reference by federal agencies and state governments) to treat pain as a “fifth vital sign” that should be considered in every patient encounter and treated. Opioid manufacturer marketing practices have also been hotly disputed and are being litigated.

Impact of Nuclear Laboratory Personnel Credentials & Continuing Education on Nuclear Cardiology Laboratory Quality Operations.

Background/Objectives: The specific credentials and continuing education (CME/CE) of nuclear cardiology laboratory medical and technical staff are important factors in the delivery of quality imaging services that have not been systematically evaluated. Methods: Nuclear cardiology accreditation application data from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) was used to characterize facilities performing myocardial perfusion imaging by setting, size, previous accreditation and credentials of the medical and technical staff. Credentials and CME/CE were compared against initial accreditation decisions (grant or delay) using multivariable logistic regression. Results: Complete data were available for 1913 nuclear cardiology laboratories from 2011-2014. Laboratories with initial positive accreditation decisions had a greater prevalence of Certification Board in Nuclear Cardiology (CBNC) certified medical directors and specialty credentialed technical directors. Certification and credentials of the medical and technical directors, respectively, staff CME/CE compliance, and assistance of a consultant with the application were positively associated with accreditation decisions. Conclusion: Nuclear cardiology laboratories directed by CBNC-certified physicians and NCT- or PET-credentialed technologists were less likely to receive delay decisions for MPI. CME/CE compliance of both the medical and technical directors was associated with accreditation decision. Medical and technical directors' years of experience were not associated with accreditation decision.

The History of Sponsoring Institutions, 1982-2017.

The History of Sponsoring Institutions, 1982-2017.

Consumer response towards an accreditation system for hiking trails

ABSTRACTAccreditation has a significant role to play in the upholding of quality and sustainability standards in the supply of tourism and leisure products. Accreditation systems, although widely used in tourism accommodation, services and sustainability practices, relate primarily to the traditional market of tourism with very few systems addressing the needs of adventure and nature-based tourism. When applied in the context of hiking, accreditation may materially impact the way trails are managed and marketed, leading to perceptions of quality and credibility amongst consumers. Trail owners and policymakers often question whether a demand for accreditation systems exists amongst consumers and to what extent such implementation could improve participation in the industry. While the work by various authors in the wider context of tourism provide some context as to the influence of accreditation systems on consumers’ decision making and buying behaviour, in the case of hiking products, this has not previously been investigated. In fact, the unique components of consumer behaviour and consumer decision making in hiking has not been clearly defined at an academic level. Current literature provides no insight into the influence of accreditation systems in current and potential consumers’ decision making regarding the consumption of hiking products. This study took a quantitative approach in the form of a survey research strategy to measure the importance of and future intended response towards trail accreditation, as determined by consumers from two different populations: hikers and non-hikers. This was achieved by presenting a hypothetical country-wide implementation of a case study accreditation system to respondents. The study demonstrates a link between accreditation and consumer decision making and the future uptake of hiking tourism amongst both hikers and non-hikers. The findings from this paper contribute to bridging numerous gaps in literature in the fields of adventure and nature-based tourism.

Buffering the Stress of Programmatic Accreditation

Accreditation, a public measure of program quality, is essential in today's competitive higher education environment. State board of nursing prelicensure program approval and a program's reputation are affected by the accreditation decision of a nursing program-accrediting agency. Writing the accreditation self-study and hosting the program site visit are often stressful experiences for the nursing program administrators, faculty, and students involved in these processes. The Neuman Systems Model can be used to objectively develop protective buffers for the stressors associated with programmatic accreditation. Three example scenarios that were developed to describe interventions, based on the Neuman Systems Model, to buffer and reduce the stress of the accrediting agency's processes are presented. The scenarios do not represent any specific nursing program but were created based on the experiences and questions of faculty members and academic administrators.

Credentials of Professionals Performing Echocardiography

We examined the IAC-Echocardiography applications database to describe the board certification of physicians and registration of sonographers and explored how staff credentials affected initial laboratory accreditation decision. Deidentified IAC-Echocardiography applications from January 2012 to December 2013 were reviewed, including size and setting of echocardiography laboratories, National Board of Echocardiography (NBE) testamur status of physicians, and registered credential status of sonographers. Multivariate logistic regression models evaluated associations between echocardiography laboratory characteristics and accreditation and deficiencies in peer-reviewed domains (staff, imaging protocols, image quality, reporting, and quality assurance) of accreditation. During the study period, 1921 echocardiography laboratories representing 10 602 physicians and 6841 sonographers applied for IAC-Echocardiography accreditation; 26.9% of physicians were NBE testamurs and 79.5% of sonographers were registered. NBE status of medical directors did not reach statistical significance for accreditation success (AOR 1.15 [0.93-1.42]), but number of registered sonographers per applicant did (AOR 1.13 [1.04-1.23]). NBE testamur medical directors were associated with fewer deficiencies in image quality (AOR 0.61 [0.48-0.79]) and reports (AOR 0.72 [0.56-0.92]). Applicants whose technical director was a physician rather than a sonographer were more likely to have deficiencies in image quality (AOR 1.84 [1.06-3.21]). Registered sonographers were associated with fewer deficiencies in the domains of staff credentials (AOR 0.84 [0.78-0.92]), reporting (AOR 0.88 [0.81-0.96]), and quality assurance (AOR 0.91 [0.84-0.98]). Registration status of sonographers, but not NBE testamur status of physicians, was positively associated with accreditation decisions. The overall interaction between individual certification and laboratory accreditation suggests a complementary role for both.

Continuous Review of Accreditation Standards and Quality Improvement in a Medical Education Program – Practical Recommendations for Implementing a Program

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Background: Accreditation reviews of medical education program standards are becoming more common throughout the world. The consequences of unfavorable decisions on a school's accreditation status can be significant. As accrediting bodies have become more rigorous in applying the standards required for medical schools to maintain their accreditation, a school's ability to ensure compliance with standards and act upon identified problems should not be left until the school's preparation for the next accreditation review cycle. Aim and Method: Based upon a review of the literature related to accreditation standard review and continuous quality improvement (CQI), regulatory documents of agencies impacting accreditation requirements, and our own experience with developing and implementing a process of continuous review of accreditation standards and quality improvement of the medical education program, we propose practical recommendations for schools interested in initiating such a program or modifying an existing program. Results: A program of continuous review of accreditation standards and quality improvement of the medical education program can be implemented at an institution by clearly defining the expectations for such a program by institutional leadership, by assigning a faculty and staff member the responsibility of facilitating the implementation and evaluation of the program, by utilizing a practical approach of regular review of entire standards and specific topics within standards deemed to be of critical importance to the school, by involving a committee of key leaders of the medical education program to oversee the evaluation of the review program and link its results and decisions to action plans and CQI efforts, and by utilizing common work flow processes and software available at most institutions. Conclusion: Establishing a regular review process of the medical education program's accreditation standards and linking the review process to CQI goals of the medical education program (based upon the findings of an institutional self-study) is a manageable endeavor, will provide updated data to the medical education program's leadership for the purposes of strategic planning and CQI effort prioritization, will lead to the creation of a continually updated self-study data collection instrument that facilitates the process of the next complete self-study, and may lead to fewer negative accreditation decisions by a program's accrediting organization.

Implementing the Next Accreditation System: Results of the 2014-2015 Annual Data Review.

Implementing the Next Accreditation System: Results of the 2014-2015 Annual Data Review.

Accredited doctoral programs in professional psychology: 2016.

This is the official listing of accredited doctoral programs in professional psychology. It reflects all Commission on Accreditation decisions through August 16, 2016. (PsycINFO Database Record

Accredited internship and postdoctoral programs for training in psychology: 2016.

Presents an official listing of accredited internship and postdoctoral residency programs for training in psychology. It reflects all Commission on Accreditation decisions through August 16, 2016. (PsycINFO Database Record