Home      Login

Abstract: 

The American Correctional Association (ACA) and the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections (the Commission) has a new health care initiative that is revolutionizing accreditation. Accreditation offers agencies the opportunity to evaluate their operations against national standards and to upgrade the quality of their programs and services. Previously, ACA standards addressed all components of an institution’s operations and a single accreditation was awarded to facilities that achieved compliance. In 1999, based on the needs of the correctional community, the ACA committed to a major revision of their health care standards. In making that decision, it became very obvious that an independent health care accreditation was also needed. For the first time in its history, ACA is offering an independent health care accreditation.

Keywords: identify, address, new guidelines, performance-based professional standards, Quality Assurance, Peer Review, auditors

Affiliations:  1: American Correctional Association.