The unrecognized power of health services accreditation: more than external evaluation

While it is widely recognized that accreditation enables an organization to improve its performance and sustain a culture of quality, changing healthcare practices to align with evidence-informed guidelines (clinical and administrative) is a complex process that takes time. The true value of accreditation lies in its contribution to healthcare safety and quality as a means to prompt and support 'knowledge to action', a key value of accreditation that 'has yet to be articulated'. Using the 'knowledge to action' cycle, a planned action framework, we illustrate that accreditation is a knowledge translation (KT) or implementation intervention that seeks to improve and increase the uptake of evidence in healthcare organizations. The accreditation components, including the quality framework, standards, self-assessment process and on-site survey visit, ultimately serve to improve quality, decreasing variation in practice and strengthening a culture of quality. With a unique perspective and alignment obtained through the implementation lens, we examine the accreditation process and components relative to the 'knowledge to action cycle' with implications for enhancing the value of accreditation beyond current appreciation to both accreditation bodies worldwide and those organizations that participate in accreditation programs. Until organizations and accreditation bodies embrace the accreditation process as a knowledge to action intervention to bring about meaningful and sustained change, the full benefits of the process will not be optimized nor achieved.