Accreditation - National Commission on Correctional Health Care
Search
Close this search box.

Accreditation

Benefits of Accreditation

  • Protects the institution by minimizing the occurrence of adverse events, thus avoiding health care-related lawsuits and grievances and often reducing liability premiums
  • Promotes and documents an efficient, well-managed system of health care delivery with feedback from knowledgeable correctional health professionals
  • Validates with objective criteria the areas in which the health care facility is doing well and areas for improvement
  • Educates and trains staff on NCCHC standards, with the benefit of introducing new efficiencies and uniform practices
  • Recognizes staff contributions and excellence, improves morale, and aids recruitment and retention
  • Helps obtain community support and provides justification for budget requests

Accreditation signals a constitutionally acceptable level of care for a facility’s inmates, which translates into improved health status, fewer grievances and lawsuits, and reduced health risk to the community when incarcerated people are released.

What Sets NCCHC Apart

  • Survey teams are customized to the facility’s programs (e.g., mental health surveyors for extensive mental health programs, dentist surveyors for facilities with on-site dental care)
  • We can survey one facility at a time or the entire system in the span of a week, depending on client needs
  • Survey teams have specific expertise in correctional health care and each team includes a physician
  • NCCHC accreditation staff and surveyors have worked in corrections – we understand how to implement standards because we’ve used them and can offer pre- and post-survey support
  • Plus: free webinars on how to prepare for NCCHC accreditation, and for states that are bringing on numerous facilities, on-site, in-depth standards training 

NCCHC Offers Three Types of Accreditation

The National Commission on Correctional Health Care has no membership or dues. NCCHC does not require any affiliation to be considered for accreditation, certification or employment as a consultant or surveyor, or to serve on committees or the board of directors. NCCHC staff and spouses are not allowed to accept gifts or consulting fees from those we accredit or certify. NCCHC is impartial, unbiased, expert and dedicated only to recognizing and fostering improvements to the field of correctional health care.

NCCHC has received many questions about compliance with standards during the outbreak. The standards are an important tool to help you provide consistent quality care.

  • If priorities have to be revised, do the best you can and make sure that this action, or inaction, is an exception, not the norm.
  • Do not cut corners on items that affect patient care. Given the increased challenges of the epidemic, triaging will be of the utmost priority. Direct your teams accordingly.
  • When assessing compliance, surveyors look for trends. If the trend is showing an upward curve of compliance, generally, the committee will accept the actions being taken. If the trend is showing a downward spiral, corrective action will be necessary to bring the activity into compliance.
  • NCCHC surveyors are health care professionals. They will review the entire situation. Ensure that your technical response to the crisis is thoughtful and well documented.