Sweetwater Hospital Association made the decision to seek accreditation in order to demonstrate our commitment to quality of care and patient safety. We view achieving and maintaining JCAHO accreditation status as a significant step toward achieving excellence in patient care.” Says Scott Bowman, Administrator.

Founded in 1951, JCAHO is one of the nation’s oldest and largest standards setting and accrediting bodies for health care. Currently JCAHO evaluates and accredits nearly 17,000 health care organizations across the United States, including approximately 9,000 hospitals and home care organizations.

The JCAHO is an independent, not-for-profit organization. Participation with JCAHO is voluntary. JCAHO standards focus on patient care issues including: Patient Rights, Direct Patient Care, Infection Control, Environment of Care, Staff Education, Management of Patient Information, Medical Staff Issues, Nursing Issues and Leadership. The benefits of accreditation are many including:

• Improved Patient Care and Patient Safety-Standards focus on state of the art performance improvement strategies helping health care organizations continuously improve patient care safety.
• Strengthens Patient and Community Confidence-This is accomplished by demonstrating an organization’s ability to provide high quality care in a safe environment by meeting the same national standards as all other accredited organizations both large and small.
• Provides professional Consultation and Staff Education-Expert advice is provided by nursing, physician and administrative leaders during quarterly educational sessions as well as by JCAHO surveyors during the actual survey process.
• Assists in Staff Recruitment-JCAHO accreditation can help attract qualified personnel and medical residents who prefer to work in an accredited organization.
• Facilitates Medicare Certification-Some accredited organizations may qualify for Medicare certification without undergoing a separate government inspection.
• Meets Third Party Payer Requirements for Reimbursement
• Improves Liability Insurance Coverage-By enhancing risk management efforts, accreditation may improve access to and reduce the cost of liablity insurance coverage.
• Provides a Competitive Advantage-Accreditation may provide a marketing advantage in the competitive health care marketplace.
• Supports a Sense of Accomplishment Among our Organization’s Staff-While survey preparation activities can be challenging and stressful, feedback from a successful survey can instill a great sense of pride for all staff involved.

“Above all, the national standards of accreditation are intended to stimulate continuous, systematic and organization-wide improvement in an organization’s performance and the outcomes of care,” says Kurt Patton, Executive Director, Hospital Accreditation Program, Joint Commission. “The Community should be proud Sweetwater Hospital Association is focusing on the most challenging goal…to continuously raise quality and safety to higher levels.”

Any concerns regarding patient safety and quality of care should be directed to:

Sweetwater Hospital Association
Administration Office
304 Wright Street
Sweetwater, TN 37874
(865) 213-8526

If your concerns are not resolved at this level, you are encouraged to contact:

By Mail:

The Joint Commission on Healthcare Accreditation
Office of Quality and Patient Safety
One Renaissance Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Online: www.JointCommission.org- Report a Patient Safety Event

By Fax:  630-792-5636