Accreditation Impact on Quality of Healthcare Organization Services and Culture in a Tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: While accreditation is thought to promote healthcare quality, a literature review revealed a scarcity of studies conducted in Saudi Arabia addressing the relationship between accreditation and better care quality and healthcare organization culture. Objectives: This research examined the accreditation effect on care quality and culture presented in King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC), as a healthcare organization, from the perspective of healthcare workers. Methods: The study design is a cross-sectional quantitative using anonymous and self-administered questionnaire for data collection from healthcare employees. The total number of participants was 218. Descriptive analysis was used, including means, range, and standard deviation. Also, the χ2 test was used for the association between the variables. Results: The result of the study showed that most of the dimensions associated with quality of care received high ratings. It revealed a significant beneficial association between employees’ perceptions of accreditation and quality of care across all these dimensions. The most dominant culture at KAMC was a group type demonstrated KAMC to be a personal environment. It revealed a strong relationship between employees’ views of the accreditation effect and a group culture type. Conclusion: This study’s findings matched those of a literature review that revealed a relation between accreditation and quality. Accreditation can help foster an organizational culture changing toward a culture that values skill development, cooperation, outcomes quality, and customer satisfaction. Accreditation processes have been found to promote a long-lasting and sustained improvement in quality of care and culture change. It demonstrated the crucial leadership influences in reaching this goal.