Accreditation
Quality Management
Definition. Accreditation is a process in which an external body assesses a health organisation against published standards and grants recognition if the standards are met.
Explanation
A systematic review found that hospital accreditation is generally associated with improvements in structures and processes, although effects on patient outcomes are less consistent (Alhawajreh et al., 2023). Accreditation organisations themselves have become a growing field of bibliometric research (Orhan, 2026), and accreditation also shapes professional education, where common myths can hinder improvement (McAtee et al., 2025).
Accreditation is costly and can become a paperwork exercise; its value depends on whether standards are evidence-based and whether organisations use them for genuine improvement.
Related concepts
Total quality management (TQM) Clinical governance Quality indicator Continuous quality improvement
Read on The Health Topics
- Do Hospital Accreditation Standards Rest on Solid Evidence? A Systematic Evidence Mapping of 1,599 Standards Reveals Structural Tensions
- Understanding Accreditation Bodies in Health Governance
- Dispelling Accreditation Myths in Nursing Education
References
Alhawajreh, M. J., Paterson, A., & Jackson, W. J. (2023). Impact of hospital accreditation on quality improvement in healthcare: A systematic review. PLoS ONE, 18(12), e0294180.
McAtee, B., Shellenbarger, T., & Chicca, J. (2025). Dispelling accreditation myths to enhance nursing education. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 20, 20–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2024.08.016
Orhan, F. (2026). Contributions of accreditation organizations in health services to the accreditation process: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of Health Organization and Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-11-2024-0488
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Accreditation. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/accreditation/