Hospital Accreditation Impact on Healthcare Quality Dimensions: A Systematic Review
Abstract
Purpose: To systematically review the impact of hospital accreditation on healthcare quality indicators, as classified into seven healthcare quality dimensions. Data source: We searched eight databases in June 2020: EBSCO, PubMed, Web of Science, Emerald, ProQuest, Science Direct, Scopus and Virtual Health Library. Search terms were conceptualized into three groups: hospitals, accreditation and terms relating to healthcare quality. The eligibility criteria included academic articles that applied quantitative methods to examine the impact of hospital accreditation on healthcare quality indicators. Study selection: We applied the PICO framework to select the articles according to the following criteria: Population—all types of hospitals; Intervention—hospital accreditation; Comparison—quantitative method applied to compare accredited vs. nonaccredited hospitals, or hospitals before vs. after accreditation; Outcomes—regarding the seven healthcare quality dimensions. After a critical appraisal of the 943 citations initially retrieved, 36 studies were included in this review. Results of data synthesis: Overall results suggest that accreditation may have a positive impact on efficiency, safety, effectiveness, timeliness and patient-centeredness. In turn, only one study analyzes the impact on access, and no study has investigated the impact on equity dimension yet. Conclusion: Mainly due to the methodological shortcomings, the positive impact of accreditation on healthcare dimensions should be interpreted with caution. This study provides an up-to-date overview of the main themes examined in the literature, highlighting critical knowledge-gaps and methodological flaws. The findings may provide value to healthcare stakeholders in terms of improving their ability to assess the relevance of accreditation processes.
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Hospital accreditation programs usually lead to improved patient safety, clinical performance, and operational efficiency, driven by stronger safety cultures, standardized procedures, and better compliance with care guidelines.
“Studies have found that hospital accreditation programs usually lead to improved patient safety, clinical performance, and operational efficiency, driven by stronger safety cultures, standardized procedures, and better compliance with care guidelines [347,348].”
From Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors (2026) · cites this paper as [348]
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- Authors
- Araujo, C. A. S., Siqueira, M. M., & Malik, A. M.
- Affiliations
- COPPEAD Graduate School of Business, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Rio de Janeir, Brazil
- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (BR)
- Fundação Getulio Vargas’s Sao Paulo School of Business Administration—FGV/EAESP, São Paulo-SP, Rio de Janeir, Brazil
- Venue
- International Journal for Quality in Health Care
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2020-08-11
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 531-544
- ISSN
- 1353-4505 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-3677
- OpenAlex
- W3048609706
- Cited by
- 109
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 2.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- International Journal for Quality in Health Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Quality and Management
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Keywords
- hospital accreditation, quality indicators, patient safety, timeliness of care, patient-centeredness, health care access, health care equity, hospital efficiency, health care effectiveness
- MeSH terms
- Accreditation, Delivery of Health Care, Hospitals, Humans, Quality of Health Care, Quality Indicators, Health Care
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