World-first in health standards

A world-first research project looking at accreditation in the health care industry has been launched in Sydney.

The project involves University of New South Wales (UNSW) academics from the Centre for Clinical Governance Research in Health and industry partners the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), Affinity Health and Ramsay Health Care. The Australian Health Insurance Association has also joined the industry partners in committing over a quarter of a million dollars to the project.

The UNSW crest was unveiled this week at the ACHS offices in Ultimo, by the ACHS President, Dr Jon Mulligan and the Acting Dean (Faculty of Medicine), Professor Richard Henry.

"The industry support, which is both financial and in-kind, is invaluable," said Professor Henry. "It shows that what the researchers are doing is relevant and will ultimately be implemented."

The project follows the announcement late last year of an Australian Research Council (ARC) linkage grant of $450,000 over three years.

"Our ultimate goal is to improve the quality of health care," said the head of the research team, Associate Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite. "We hope that accreditation in the industry may be enhanced or changed over time, as a result of our research.

"We need to work out whether the accreditation process which hospitals and other health care facilities go through makes them work better, or whether they are just going through the documentation without any tangible benefit," said Professor Braithwaite.

"I think that some organizations use accreditation to their advantage, whereas others treat it as a paper-processing exercise."

The investigation is an international first and will provide significant insight, not only for the health care industry, but also for many industries, both in Australia and overseas.