Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC), Jordan

Signatory since June 2021

The Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting patient safety and improving the quality of healthcare services in Jordan. Established in 2007, it offers accreditation, consultation, and capacity building to organizations and professionals. The Council works to improve overall services by helping healthcare providers develop strong and motivated teams, monitor and improve healthcare delivery, and engage experts for specialized care. It also assists providers to develop their services in specific areas such as family planning and reproductive health, noncommunicable diseases, and emergency care. Rabab Diab, deputy chief executive officer of the organization, explains how HCAC became a signatory, why protecting and empowering staff is such an important principle, and how accreditation can be a powerful tool for promoting improvements.

 

BECOMING A SIGNATORY

DIAB: When we compared and contrasted the principles with our own mission and core values, we saw that most of them are in alignment. This led us to join as an EPiHC signatory member. Membership has helped us share our own experiences and learn from other organizations around the world.

 

THE PRINCIPLES

#3 Promoting High Quality Standards

DIAB: This principle resonated strongly with us. It is reflected in our own stated mission: to use internationally accepted standards to improve quality and promote safety in healthcare. We work on several levels to accomplish this. For the public, we run awareness initiatives, including our annual “Change Day” campaign, which promotes clean, safe facilities and better practices throughout Jordan. We also conduct research related to quality and efficiency, and share the findings. Through our consulting arm, we help many organizations meet international accreditation standards. We identify areas that need improvement and work with them to develop strategies to overcome problems. HCAC is specifically proud of its flagship courses for certification in areas like overall quality, patient safety, risk management, infection control, and leadership. Finally, since 2009 we have regularly launched national quality and safety goals for healthcare improvement in Jordan. The 2021 goals included emergency preparedness, effective management of outbreaks and pandemics, accessibility of services to all clients, and a safe working environment for all staff members.

#9 Protecting and Empowering Staff

DIAB: HCAC truly believes that investment in human resources is needed to make any significant change. In our consultations, we help clients develop practices for protecting staff and building their capacity. For accreditation, we require staffing plans with enough qualified people to meet an appropriate and safe patientphysician ratio.

 

ASSESSING AND EVALUATING PROGRESS

DIAB: In Jordan, as in many countries, laws and regulations provide most of what we need for healthcare quality in principle. But laws are not always enforced. We have found that accreditation is a powerful tool for implementing and monitoring improvement. Our two-year accreditation cycle includes a midpoint assessment, in which we make unannounced visits to see if [our clients] are actually making the improvements they reported. We emphasize that good leadership is crucial. We provide self-assessment tools with which leaders and others can evaluate their progress. And we have established competitions so that they can match their improvement against one another’s. We have learned some approaches from other industries, but in healthcare, we are always dealing with human beings, so we are not like other industries. There has been one good side to COVID-19. This emergency has led many people in healthcare to think again about safety and quality standards. For example, more people recognize the importance of hand hygiene and other infectioncontrol practices. They feel it in their daily work; if they don’t implement it, it will affect their own lives and those of their families. They are also more rigorous in managing emergency preparedness. This is all a continuous journey. There is always more to improve.