What compels Australian hospitals to get accredited?
‘Medical tourism’ is not a major issue in Australia, although being accredited has significance from a marketing perspective, whether patients come from home or abroad. In Australia, the various reasons why organisations seek accreditation are performance requirements for the public sector, contractual requirements that govern funding by third parties, such as health insurance funds; and risk management, with performance assessments carried out by respected, independent organisations, such as ACHS and legislative requirements in relation to licensing of private facilities. Many organisations though are simply committed to quality as it is a key component of their culture. Accreditation can be an important strategy to influence organisational culture. How similar and dissimilar are NABH standards from ACHS? First observations are that there are strong similarities, although NABH has developed a lot more of them. Australia is a mature country in terms of accreditation so the emphasis of
