Assessment of the accreditation standards of the Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions in Saudi Arabia against the principles of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua)

摘要

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Accreditation is usually a voluntary program, in which trained external peer reviewers evaluate health care organization’s compliance with pre-established performance standards. Interest in accreditation is growing in developing countries, but there is little published information on the challenges faced by new programs. In Saudi Arabia, the Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions (CBAHI) was established to formulate and implement quality standards in all health sectors across the country. The objective of this study was to assess a developing accreditation program (CBAHI standards) against the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) principles to identify opportunities for improvement of the CBAHI standards.