Experts in the field claim that the activity of accreditation represents a key mechanism to evaluate healthcare facilities' performance and enhance care delivery safety and quality. The term "accreditation" describes the external assessment process for evaluating hospitals' and other healthcare centers' performance by studying their adherence to a number of pre-established, well-defined written performance benchmarks. It aims at encouraging ongoing quality improvements instead of merely upholding least-required performance levels. Accreditation also refers to public approval that stems from a healthcare institution's achievement of certain care standards, validated following an autonomous external organizational performance appraisal. (Jaafaripooyan, Agrizzi & Akbari-Haghighi, 2011). This paper addresses the purpose of accreditations and related costs.A summary of the purposes of accreditation and accreditation standards

Organizations duly accredited, are recognized as trustworthy and reliable entities committed to constant, long-term adherence to top quality standards. Accreditation is considered an important point of reference when it comes to gauging organizational quality. Preparation for accreditation will accord healthcare organizations a chance to ascertain its existing strengths and any potential areas for improvement. The preparation phase helps offer valuable information to management, facilitating effective decision-making with regard to operations, for improving organizational performance in terms of its productivity and efficacy (Why get accredited, 2016).

Moreover, it helps distinguish a given healthcare organization from the remaining healthcare practitioners. An accredited hospital indicates management's and workforce's devotion to growing into the practitioner of choice, guaranteeing clients are delivered the best possible healthcare. It also ensures improved patient faith in the organization, and recognition. Accreditation aids in strengthening the community's confidence in the healthcare facility, and its service quality. Additionally, it serves to increase organizational value. Given the incessant modifications to the health sector, patients seek dependable professionals who constantly and unfailingly provide superior quality healthcare and validate their capacity of remaining adherent to national standards. Hence, through accreditation, a healthcare center can validate its capability of adapting to industrial modifications and increase organizational value (Why get accredited, 2016).

Standards within the health accreditation field refer to certain feasible, desirable performance levels, against which accrediting firms gauge real performance. Standards help small to large hospitals and other healthcare units incorporate...

Clinical and external organizational accreditation benchmarks are deemed vital to promoting the dissemination of safe, dependable, and superior-quality health services and products (Greenfield et al., 2012). Hospital accreditation is deemed to be a valuable means of promoting accountability in healthcare delivery; a positive status has generally been employed as an organizational marketing instrument (Menachemi et al., 2008).
A discussion of the financial, time, and associated costs of earning and maintaining accreditation

One view regarding the issue is that substantial personnel time and efforts, and organizational funds, are devoted to accreditation; these precious organizational resources may be put to better use elsewhere (for instance, in pursuing clinical care and service programs). Accreditation-related costs are a greatly debated and discussed issue in health plans. Accreditation is one major investment, but healthcare organizations usually wonder whether all that commitment of energy, time, and funds creates tangible advantages. In as much, the most significant concern regarding to accreditation is the cost involved to earn one. Insurers impose double-digit growths in premium on organizations, intensifying the former's sensitivity to accreditation expenses (because these expenses were passed on). Costs may be vastly divergent for diverse accreditation programs, although compliance-linked expenses, and not site visit and application costs, often constitute the key difference (Cross, 2003).

All entities of the health sector are seeking budget cutbacks, owing to the escalation in care delivery expenses for healthcare organizations as well as their clients. Exorbitant sums of money have to be allocated to accreditation, a procedure that entails healthcare organizations pay to accrediting firm (consultancy services), the requisite software normally purchased from the accrediting firm, consultancy services normally delivered by the same accrediting firm, and human resource to handling the process. Overall, accreditation-linked costs to the U.S. health sector are prohibitively high (Curnayn, 2011). Numbers on true accreditation-linked expenses chiefly include dedicated workforce, manuals, review application, education/training with respect to accreditation standards, interim review conditions, review process, subsequent review by a federal- or state-level agency and findings resolution (Whitney, 2013)

Further, a large number of healthcare providers raise concerns with regard to accreditation initiatives' bureaucracy and time needed. Providers typically view such initiatives as costly, not adding much value to healthcare, variable based on assessor, and…