accreditation the status obtained by an organisation after a successful third party external evaluation by a recognised body to assess whether an organisation meets applicable predetermined and published standards

ACHS The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, Australia’s leading independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving the quality and safety of health care through continual review of performance, assessment and accreditation

associate member an organisation whose ACHS membership is covered by a broader or overarching paying organisation or body

Certification ACHS’ quality management program for newly established and other health care organisations that have not yet implemented a formal quality program

clinical indicator a measure of the clinical management and outcome of care; a method of monitoring consumer/patient care and services which attempts to ‘flag’ problem areas, evaluate trends and so direct attention to issues requiring further review

consumer/patient people who directly or indirectly make use of health services

EQuIP Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program. The ACHS framework to improve quality and safety of health care

evaluation identification of the outcome of care and service

health care providers staff or individuals who, in cooperation with the consumer/patient, assume responsibility for all aspects of care in response to the diagnosis and needs of the consumer/patient

IAP International Accreditation Program – ISQua’s internationally tested and approved framework of requirements and principles which should underpin health care delivery standards

improving performance continuous study and adaptation of processes in order to achieve desired outcomes and meet the needs and expectations of members, consumers and stakeholders

inter-rater reliability ensuring consistency between and within survey teams on ratings of the criteria within each standard

ISQua The International Society for Quality in Health Care, a non-profit, independent organisation with members in over 70 countries that works to provide services to guide health professionals, providers, researchers, agencies, policy makers and consumers, to achieve excellence in health care delivery to all people, and to continuously improve the quality and safety of care

member a paying organisation participating in an ACHS quality program

policy a documented statement that formalises the approach to tasks and concepts which is consistent with organisational objectives

procedure a set of documented instructions conveying the approved and recommended steps for a particular act or sequence of acts

process a series of actions, changes/functions that bring about an end or a result

quality the extent to which the properties of a service or product produces a desired outcome

risk management the culture, processes and structures that are directed towards the effective management of potential opportunities and adverse events

safety a state in which risk has been reduced to an acceptable level

standard a statement of a level of performance to be achieved

An ACHS surveyor is a health professional trained by ACHS to assess the performance of health care organisations against the standards of our accreditation framework (EQuIP) standards