Health Services
For Jails, Prisons, and Juvenile Confinement Facilities
Accreditation is based on the NCCHC Standards for Health Services, which come in separate manuals for jails, prisons, and juvenile detention and confinement facilities. Accreditation covers compliance with standards in the following general areas:
- Governance and administration
- Safety
- Personnel and training
- Health care services and support
- Inmate care and treatment
- Health promotion
- Special needs and services
- Health records
- Medical–legal issues
Accreditation is available to large and small facilities, whether or not you have full-time staff,. If specific standards don’t apply to your facility, they are not considered during the accreditation process.
How Accreditation Can Help Your Facility
- Public recognition and tangible evidence of a standards-based system of care
- More efficient, less costly operations
- Reduced risk of adverse events and health care-related litigation and liability
Because litigation is so expensive, it is well worth the effort to achieve compliance with NCCHC’s standards and to gain accreditation. Facilities that meet NCCHC’s standards and achieve accreditation are frequently regarded favorably by the courts. In case after case, NCCHC’s standards have been held as the model to which correctional facilities should strive. Your voluntary compliance with NCCHC’s standards demonstrates to government officials, the public, and the courts your understanding of the legal requirements of correctional health care.