Does Hospital Accreditation or Certification Impact Patient Outcomes? Findings From a Scoping Review for Healthcare Industry Leaders.

Objective: This scoping review describes findings from published literature, evaluates the association between hospital accreditation or certification and patient outcomes, and identifies gaps.

Background: Healthcare accreditation and certification organizations set standards and evaluate whether the standards are met. Despite the extensive efforts of both parties to improve healthcare delivery, poor patient health outcomes still exist in the United States.

Methods: A comprehensive search of published peer-reviewed literature in English, utilizing the databases OVID MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL, addressing hospital accreditation or certification and patient outcomes, was conducted.

Results: There was inconclusive evidence to support a relationship between hospital accreditation and outcomes in US hospitals, except for bariatric accreditation and stroke specialty certification studies for mortality and length of stay. The heterogeneous reporting of measures made it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions.

Conclusion: Understanding the extent to which accreditation is associated with patient outcomes is required. Future research is needed to establish scientific connections between hospital accreditations or certifications and patient outcomes.