Consequences of the new generation of hospital accreditation with the Three-Branch Model in Iran

Accreditation is the evaluation of structures, processes, and performance results of hospitals in order to continuously improve the quality of services in order to assure quality, safety, and effectiveness of services of accredited hospitals. The aim of this study was to identify the consequences of the new generation of hospital accreditation using the Three-Branch Model.

This was an exploratory mixed-method study that used the purposeful sampling method of 20 semi-structured interviews with content analysis. A Delphi technique was used to design the initial model, which was then modified and confirmed by experts. The model was then tested by distributing a stratified quota sample of 384 hospital employees, and a questionnaire was made by the researchers using Morgan's table. We used SmartPLS3 to analyze the data through confirmatory factor analysis.

Data were categorized using 18 codes, 9 concepts, and three main categories after analysis. The main codes included: social consequences; creating public trust, improving the level of community health, organizational consequences; improving hospital performance, organizational communication, and behavioral outcomes; employee satisfaction, employee job performance improvement, organizational learning, patient satisfaction, and patient safety.

Based on the findings, the most significant outcomes of accreditation were improvements in hospital performance, patient satisfaction, and community health. Indeed, with the correct implementation of the accreditation process, one could witness the improvement of the organization's performance, increasing patient satisfaction, and improving population’s health.