Accreditation Policies Research Articles

THE IMPORTANCE OF Appropriate Theraphy Utilization

Editor’s Note:The implementation of the Outcome Assessment and Information Set (OASIS) with its emphasis on functional assessment and the 11 quality indicators that use OASIS to publicly report agency patient outcomes have increased the use of home care therapy services. Since the initiation of PPS, agencies have been reimbursed at a higher rate if the patient has 10 or more therapy visits. As a service to our readers, we are reprinting an article from our August 2001 issue entitled, “Evaluating Physical Therapy Utilization under PPS.” The information in this article from the National Association for Home Care (NAHC) provides the current context of how important appropriate therapy utilization is to an agency’s compliance with the Medicare Home Care Benefit. The other article’s goals are to: 1. assist physical therapy providers in evaluating the appropriateness of clinical and billing practices under PPS; 2. provide professional, regulatory, and accreditation references that lend support to the evaluation process; and 3. facilitate communication of therapists’ concerns to their supervisors and agency administration. We are reprinting this article in the hope that it will help assure that agency, clinician,andaudit decisions use the professional, regulatory, and accreditation policies and processes to make coverage and audit decisions. Reprintedwith permission from National Association for Home Care, 2004. OIG initiates therapy threshold audit. NAHC Report, 1043, January 30, p. 1.

Problematic Students: Gatekeeping Practices of Academic Professional Psychology Programs.

When the topic of problematic students arises, there are often more questions than answers. Professional psychology programs may serve as gatekeepers for the profession, yet there is little guidance on intervening with problematic students. This study surveyed training directors (TDs) of American Psychological Association-accredited academic psychology programs regarding problematic student behaviors. Over half of the programs that responded had terminated at least 1 student during a 3-year period, with TDs citing inadequate clinical skills as the major reason. Despite accreditation policies, 54% of the programs did not have written guidelines for intervening with problematic students. Recommendations to promote consistent evaluation and intervention at the faculty, student, program, and national-policy level are discussed.

The emerging homecare market in Greece: A prospective economic model for the development of a reimbursement policy by insurance funds

The Greek National Health Service (NHS) has initiated a process of moving away from institutionalised care and promoting open care within the community, as a cost-containment measure. Despite the Greek government's commitment to provide financial support, permitting families to carry the burden of homecare, the lack of legislation and appropriate accreditation procedures are still the main barriers for the provision of homecare in Greece. The emerging Greek homecare market suffers from a lack of coordination of the efforts of paramedical professionals and the poor training of providers. In this paper, the basic prerequisites for the development of a nationwide homecare programme (integrated knowledge of the market (homecare), clear strategy, good collaboration among different providers, internal quality controls and a strict accreditation policy) are discussed. Furthermore, a prospective capitation model for the homecare services, adapted to Greek market data, is suggested as the basis of a realistic reim...

The politics of international election observation: the case of Zimbabwe in 2000

The example of Zimbabwe in 2000 shows that in a context of violent election campaigning, the role of international election observation is an ambiguous one. Unlike earlier elections organised by the Zimbabwean government, international donors wanted to observe its 2000 parliamentary election amidst a deepening crisis. They noted that the elections would not be free and fair in their view. Neighbouring countries with a more positive view joined the observation exercise. The government's discriminatory invitation and accreditation policy, the observers' emphasis on the peacefulness of the polling rather than free and fair elections, and the selective publication of their reports in various media, were affected both by the political agendas of the domestic players and by the governments which sent the observers. The difference between the Western view of the government, which had changed drastically since the 1980s and early 1990s, and the view of neighbouring governments, was crucial and may become significant elsewhere in Africa.

Taking WGU seriously: Implications of the Western Governors University

After much attention during its development, the continued importance of the Western Governors University (WGU) has not been significantly addressed since it opened in 1998. While certainly not dominating the higher education environment as predicted by its founders, it has nonetheless demonstrated a new competency-based distance education model for higher education. For that reason, the implications of WGU should be taken seriously. Three potential implications for colleges and universities are outlined: accreditation policies, organizational models, and faculty roles. While its survival as an institution is questionable, the concepts behind WGU remain important in changes in American higher education.

Can European external peer review techniques be introduced and adopted into Taiwan's hospital accreditation system?

Health service accreditation systems have had extraordinarily of China, began its hospital accreditation system in 1978 operated jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Derapid growth and development worldwide in the past decade [1–17]. Currently 28 countries have established their own partment of Health (DOH) [25–27]. In 1986, with the promulgation of the Medical Care Act (MCA), Taiwan’s hospital hospital accreditation systems. The international accreditation feasibility paper of the International Society for Quality in accreditation programme was divided into two main schemes: teaching hospital accreditation and hospital accreditation. Health Care (ISQua) indicated the importance of these systems and the interest of international societies in elaborating The former programme was conducted by the Ministry of Education and the DOH; the latter was operated separately and developing a set of international accreditation standards for health care [8,13,18]. by the DOH [1]. Accredited hospitals in Taiwan were classified into four However, issues, policies, controversies, and challenges regarding international accreditation standards have been categories: medical centre hospitals, regional hospitals, district teaching hospitals and district non-teaching hospitals [25,26]. discussed and debated for many years [1,5,14,18–23]. After the ISQua meeting in Venice, Italy in 1994, the Society On 16 March 1999, the DOH, the Hospital Association, the Private Hospitals & Clinics Association, and the Physicians organized its own accreditation section and agenda, and in 1998 the Agenda for Leadership in Programs for Healthcare Union funded the Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation and Quality Assurance (TJCHA, the foundaAccreditation was formalized in Budapest, Hungary [8]. Recently, the international health care community has tried to tion). The Commission took over the accreditation programme for district hospitals and in 1999 was appointed by develop new methods and techniques to review and learn from different health services accreditation external peer the DOH as the sole or primary accreditation body for these hospitals. However, the DOH still conducted the accreditation review systems such as the European External Peer Review Techniques (ExPeRT) Project and the Joint Commission programme for medical centre hospitals and regional hospitals. In 1998, there were 719 hospitals in Taiwan. Of this International Accreditation task force project. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Australian Council on total, 567 hospitals were accredited including 14 medical centre hospitals, 45 regional hospitals and 508 district and Hospital Standards was the first to launch a hospital accreditation programme in 1974 [6,24]. In the past two decades, speciality hospitals. hospital accreditation programmes or systems have been established in several countries or areas such as: Taiwan (1978), Korea (1981), Mainland China (1989), New Zealand Governance and policies (1990), Japan (1995), The Philippines (1999), Malaysia (1999) [16,25,26]. Many additional countries or areas have shown According to the MCA, the DOH was allowed to assign great interest in the development of a hospital accreditation responsibility to some medical societies and hospital assystem, for example Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore. sociations for some parts of the accreditation programme such as accreditation of intensive care units and psychiatric services. Although some parts of the accreditation programme were handed over to the TJCHA, the DOH still plays a role Hospital accreditation in Taiwan as an accreditation body in areas such as formulation of accreditation policies, developing standards, and appointing For the purpose of assigning teaching hospitals as the setting for medical students’ teaching practice Taiwan, the Republic accreditation surveyors for on-site visits.

Intensive care physicians' insufficient knowledge of right-heart catheterization at the bedside: time to act?

To evaluate French, Swiss, and Belgian intensive care physicians' knowledge about the pulmonary artery catheter. Survey study by questionnaire. Eighty-six European university and nonuniversity intensive care units (ICUs). One hundred thirty-four ICUs identified from the directories of two European intensive care medicine societies were asked to participate. Five hundred thirty-five critical care physicians working in 86 ICUs participated. In any particular ICU, all physicians were to complete--simultaneously, anonymously and without prior notice--a multiple choice questionnaire consisting of 31 questions regarding all aspects of bedside pulmonary artery catheterization. This questionnaire was the same one already used and extensively validated in a similar study conducted several years earlier in the United States and Canada. The percentage of correct answers per participant (score) was tabulated. Sixty-eight percent of respondents still in training (n = 232) believed that their knowledge of the pulmonary artery catheter was less than adequate; 36% of those who had completed their postgraduate training (n = 294) also believed their knowledge to be inadequate. The mean score of all respondents was 72.2 +/- 14.4%, significantly lower (p <.0001) in case of uncompleted postgraduate training (67.3 +/- 14.7%, lower quartile 56.7%, median 70.0%, upper quartile 76.7%), as compared with completed postgraduate training (76.1 +/- 13.0%, lower quartile 70.0%, median 80.0%, upper quartile 86.7%). When using multivariate analysis, the location of the ICU in a university hospital, the belief of respondent that his/her knowledge of the pulmonary artery catheter was adequate, and the responsibility for supervising catheter insertion were the only independent predictors of good performance on the questionnaire (p < .001 for all three variables). It was impossible to identify any subcategory of physicians with a uniformly good knowledge of the pulmonary artery catheter. The proportion of incorrect answers to some basic items was disturbingly high. For instance, approximately 50% of the respondents, whether trained or in training, did not correctly identify pulmonary artery occlusion pressure from a clear chart recording. Knowledge of right-heart pulmonary artery catheterization is not uniformly good among ICU physicians. Accreditation policies and teaching practices concerning this technique need urgent revision.

The Historical Relationship of Nursing Program Accreditation and Public Policy in Canada

The Historical Relationship of Nursing Program Accreditation and Public Policy in Canada

Accreditation Policies in Occupational Health Care

Occupational health practitioners have striven for 60 years to develop and implement appropriate accreditation policies and procedures to promote quality assurance of occupational health practice. In 1987 the American Occupational Medical Association affiliated with the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, an independent ambulatory health care accreditation organization, to advance this movement. This paper explores the history of occupational health care accreditation and identifies potential incentives needed to encourage accreditation of occupational health care. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, industry, labor, insurance carriers, and professional organizations collectively must develop strategies to promote accreditation and ensure that workers receive the maximum standard of occupational health care.

'Loopholes' weaken hospital accreditation policy

'Loopholes' weaken hospital accreditation policy

To be or not to be?: Accreditation, credentialing, and applied developmental psychology

Developmental psychologists working on problems outside traditional academic settings, and faculty training students to meet the challenges of applying developmental psychology to practical problems are confronting issues formerly encountered by members of traditional fields of applied psychology. One of these issues is field regulation currently effectuated through APA accreditation of doctoral degree programs and state licensure of individuals graduating from such programs. APA is in the process of considering significant revisions in the scope of its accreditation policies. This article first presents a brief description of the APA accreditation system and the relationship of accreditation to statutory licensure. The article then focuses on why applied developmental psychologists may or may not select the accreditation route and implications of such choices for the field, graduate programs, and individuals engaged in applied developmental activities.

The Importance of Accreditation in Materials Education

The strength, vitality, and development of the materials professions are determined largely by the quality of education of their new members. While this truism applies to any profession, it is critically important that it be recognized in a rapidly changing and evolving area such as the materials field, which includes activities in materials engineering, ceramic engineering, polymer engineering, and metallurgical engineering. The recent development of tools and techniques that allow relating details of atomic and electronic structure to material properties, the discovery of new classes of materials, many of which are complex integrations of metals, ceramics, and/or polymers, along with the rich diversity of new processing methods that yields improved properties and new materials concepts, are examples that emphasize the dynamic and exciting nature of the field.The primary responsibility for monitoring, evaluating, and certifying the quality of engineering and engineering-related education in colleges and universities in the United States lies with ABET, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. (For a discussion of accreditation in chemistry, see “Chemistry Education Programs Relevant to Materials Science” by P. Lykos in this issue.) ABET, working with the engineering professional societies, develops accreditation policies and criteria and conducts a comprehensive program of evaluation of first professional engineering degree programs. Programs meeting the prescribed criteria are granted accredited status.

Research Curricula and Accreditation: The Challenge for Leadership

Abstract Faculty and administrators in social work programs have greeted recently disseminated accreditation requirements by CSWE with varying mixtures of enthusiasm and concern. Of all curricular areas, research seems subject to the most extensive revisions of purpose, curricular structure, etc. Both accreditation demands and programmatic responses should be viewed against a backdrop of continuing disagreement within faculty ranks about the place of research in the professional curriculum. How newly promulgated accreditation policy and procedures affect this dissension and the adequacy of the conceptualizations and program structures that result will determine the usefulness of research content in future curricula.

Clinical Laboratory Management: A Guide for Clinical Laboratory Scientists

Ostensibly this is a textbook on management of medical laboratories; it is instead a medium chosen by a group of career medical technologists to vent their dissatisfactions with their profession, their disappointments about the place of medical technology in our medical care system, and their frustrations generated by failures in various attempts to change the system. The editors obviously do not like the designation medical technologist, since the subtitle and preface indicate the text was written for clinical laboratory scientists. It has taken decades of effort to gain recognition for medical technologists among groups responsible for laboratory licensure, laboratory accreditation, and setting policies affecting reimbursement for medical care. The editors do the profession of medical technology a disservice by abandoning the title. Also, there are no accredited educational programs in clinical laboratory science and no one really knows what a clinical laboratory scientist is. The book is aimed at undergraduate

Medical education and the Regents of the State of New York. Are the last two years of medical school really necessary?

ON October 23, 1980, the New York Board of Regents adopted a policy of state accreditation of foreign medical schools to facilitate the ability of United States citizens studying in these schools (USFMSs) to participate in clinical clerkships and ultimately practice in the state of New York.1 The State Education Department was subsequently charged with the task of developing regulations to put this policy into effect.The Regents' action was of considerable concern to those who are engaged in medical education and the provision of health care in the state, and it provoked formal statements of disagreement from the Association . . .

TRAINING OF PSYCHIATRISTS

The formation of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the introduction of its membership have stimulated discussion concerning the aims and objectives of psychiatric training. It is not clear whether the purpose of a three-year training programme is to produce a general psychiatrist equipped with basic knowledge or a qualified expert in one of psychiatry's subspecialties. The membership examination attempts to be both a test of general knowledge and a specialist qualification. The tutorial system should still be the core of any teaching programme; but such a system is available to few trainees. The College now has the opportunity, through its policy of accreditation, to lay down minimum standards for psychiatric training and practice and to exert pressure to ensure that such standards are met.

Dampak Kebijakan Akreditasi Perguruan Tinggi Terhadap Daya Saing (Competitiveness) Perguruan Tinggi Swasta Di Kabupaten Kebumen

Accreditation policies established by the government was not fully implemented by the private universities in Kebumen. Of the five existing private universities, only two private universities that have implemented policies such accreditation STIE Putra Bangsa and STIKES Muhammadiyah Gombong. While the other three universities namely AMIK PGRI Kebumen, STTM Kebumen, and Dharma Patria Polytechnic Kebumen, accreditation policy does not apply. Accreditation policy will encourage the efforts of private universities in improving the quality and competitiveness. Some private universities are implementing quality policy efforts and make improvements. However, several other private universities have not been applied so that the accreditation policies competitiveness indicators include the number of students, academic faculty qualifications, facilities and infrastructure, and cooperation with external parties can not be optimally carried out by universities that have not implemented the policy of accreditation. The purpose of this study was to determine how the universities accreditation policy impact on the competitiveness of private universities in Kebumen. This type of research is qualitative research, retrieval of data sources using the technique of "purposive sampling" by the number of informants as many as 30 people including structural universities officials, students, and stakeholders. Collecting data in this research is done through observation, documentation and indepth interview. Techniques of data analysis in this study is the analysis of the interactive model, includes four components, namely data collection, data reduction, data display and conclusions or verification. The theory used is a theory about quality assurance. The results of this study found that for private universities that implement accreditation policy of accreditation policies can have an impact on the competitiveness of more optimal effort in improving the quality of the acquisition so the number of students in each new admissions, academic qualifications are sufficient faculty, facilities and infrastructure are more adequate, and the amount of cooperation with external parties can be pursued optimally. But for private univertsities that do not implement the accreditation policies of competitiveness remains to be pursued optimally. &#x0D; &#x0D; Key words : Accreditation, competitiveness, higher education, impact, quality

Introduction to the proposal of an American Translators Association's Accreditation Policy and Procedures followed by the text of the proposal

Introduction to the proposal of an American Translators Association's Accreditation Policy and Procedures followed by the text of the proposal

Engineering Education and Accreditation

Abstract Engineering education has changed considerably since before World War II. The direction, methods and ideas of educators in this field have changed and are still in a process of evolution. Realizing the threat of obsolescence to an engineering education with the old method of teaching the "how", educators are now teaching the "why". The current trends in education and curricula are evaluated, and the contributions of professional engineering societies to the accreditation of the engineering schools and curricula are discussed. Introduction Concern with the education of the young men who will make their careers in engineering is one indication of the professional attitude of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. I hope the individual members share this concern. Important contributions to engineering education have been made by the professional societies and by intersociety bodies such as Engineers' Joint Council, Engineers' Council for Professional Development and most recently the Commission on Engineering Education. Most of these contributions have been accomplished by the voluntary efforts of professionally dedicated individuals. Nevertheless, of the half million engineers in this country only a relative handful have carried the burden of professional development. I deeply hope that the growing interest of your members and the increasing activity of your society in engineering education and other professional matters will produce for the future a far higher ratio of actives to inactives among petroleum engineers. Education precedes accreditation in the title of this paper as it has historically and as it does in importance to the profession. Since accreditation grows out of education, this paper will first describe some of the changes which have been taking place in engineering education and examine present characteristics and trends. Accreditation policy and procedures will then be described as the logical outgrowth of the trends in education and the needs of the profession. The importance of participation by professional engineers and societies in the accreditation process will be emphasized. Since most engineering schools grant the first engineering degree at the completion of a four-year undergraduate curriculum, and since accreditation consequently relates principally to such curricula, the emphasis in this paper will be on these programs. Mention will be made briefly, however, of a few important departures from the norm and of future prospects in postgraduate education. Undergraduate Education Engineering education is education for doers, for people who are expected to do something, to conceive, to design, to build, to operate. Thus, application is the essence of engineering and it must be the distinctive objective, though not the exclusive method, of engineering education. Past Education Practices An historical review is not within the scope of this paper, but it is pertinent to point out that before World War 11 the emphasis was heavily on application, on method, on how. This emphasis seemed to be consistent with the objective, with the concept of the engineer as a doer. The worth of the engineering professor was measured by his knowledge of current practice and his ability to train his students in the facts and methods of his field of engineering practice. If an employer said, "I like to hire Professor X's graduates because they fit right into the organization and know just how to go about their job", this was considered the highest praise and the mark of the professor's success. Thus the organization and content of engineering education 25 years ago were largely determined by the skills which would be most useful to the graduate in carrying out the assignments of his first job. The resulting characteristics of the education of that time are well known to my generation. There was a remarkable similarity among the curricula offered in a given branch of engineering by the engineering schools across the country, and there was an equally remarkable lack of similarity in the curricula of the various branches of engineering. Thus, practically all the civil engineering curricula were the same and all the electrical curricula were the same, but civil and electrical engineering curricula had no more in common at a given institution than the dean happened to be able to convince his faculty was absolutely essential. Since the emphasis was so clearly on current practice, most curricula contained only such courses in chemistry, mathematics and physics as appeared likely to prove useful in the specific engineering application courses. Similarly, the value of courses in the humanities and social sciences was judged by the extent to which they might have direct application in engineering practice. By these measures, few of the courses offered by non-engineering departments could justify their inclusion in the student's study program.

Improving Accreditation Policies in Collegiate Basic Nursing Education

Improving Accreditation Policies in Collegiate Basic Nursing Education