In 2019 the Accreditation methodology within Alberta Health Services (AHS) changed to include attestation, assessing multiple standards at sites and programs, and unannounced survey visits. Using the new approach in the Central Zone, which is supported by two Accreditation advisors, 109 sites will assess multiple standards in one year of the Accreditation cycle while 23 rural facilities will each assess up to 969 criteria the following year. To be successful required changing the culture from one of “preparing for a survey visit” to being Accreditation Ready at all times and increasing the capacity to support large numbers of sites at the same time. To address this, a SharePoint site, accessible 24/7, housing Accreditation information and acting as a communication hub (one-stop shop) for the work was implemented in the Central Zone. Access to SharePoint ranges from Zone Leadership to site and program personnel. Sites are guided to establish collaborative teams including individuals from a variety of disciplines to participate in the work. Site or program specific workbooks housed on SharePoint are used to document criteria ratings and identify quality improvement opportunities. The Accreditation Advisors lead the teams and their work. Monthly status reports for all criteria, showing trends and improvements are posted on SharePoint and are available to all levels of leadership providing just in time information.
#AHSAccreditationReady has been adopted within AHS to describe this shift in culture that supports achieving accreditation readiness on a daily basis. This hashtag is the name of the Central Zone SharePoint site.
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