Community Health Accreditation Partner, Inc., (CHAP) announced this month that Hospice of the Northwest has once again been awarded CHAP Accreditation under the CHAP Hospice Standards of Excellence. CHAP is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body for home- and community-based health care organizations.
Created in 1965, CHAP was the first to recognize the need and value for accreditation in home and community-based care with more than 5,000 organizations currently accredited nationwide. Through “deeming” authority granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CHAP is a nationally approved accrediting organization who retains authority to survey agencies providing home health, hospice, pharmacy, infusion therapy nursing, and home medical equipment services, to determine if they meet the Medicare Conditions of
Participation and CMS Quality Standards.
CHAP Accreditation demonstrates that Hospice of the Northwest meets the industry’s highest nationally recognized standards. The rigorous evaluation by CHAP focuses on structure and function, quality of services and products, human and financial resources, and long-term viability. Adherence to CHAP standards leads to better quality care and better business performance.
Christine, HNW’s Manager of Quality & Compliance
Christine is the Manager of Quality and Compliance at Hospice of the Northwest. Her mission is to not just meet standards of care, but to ensure care surpasses the standards with distinction and excellence. Hospice of the Northwest Executive Director Bob Laws emphasizes, “Quality (capitol Q) is very important at Hospice of the Northwest. Led by the stellar efforts of our champion, Christine Nidd, we have achieved and maintained CHAP Accreditation, as well as bettering audit results every three years. Improvements in quality are definitely a company wide effort, but Christine has been primarily responsible for changing our Culture of Quality from punitive to productive. This change in culture allows us to learn from our mistakes, and improves the care our patients receive every day.”
In Christine’s words, “What it means to be accredited by CHAP is a commitment to quality and ongoing process improvement that exceeds standard requirements. CHAP has additional standards that agencies are expected to have and be in place for best practice.”
The hospice staff that were chosen for CHAP-accompanied patient visits – Krista (nurse), Reese (care aide), Caitlin (social worker), and Deana (spiritual counselor) – received excellent reviews and were highly complimented by the surveyor. It is a large responsibility for the staff who host the surveyor on patient visits. Everything is scrutinized, from PPE and hand hygiene, to bag technique and down to each question posed to patients during the visit. Each team member who hosted the surveyor did an exceptional job.
Much of the organization’s work in preparation for CHAP accreditation occurs before the surveyor arrives. A survey binder is maintained in a state of readiness with hundreds of pages of documents. Meticulously organized, the binder will provide answers to many questions the surveyor may have upon arrival.
One of the main takeaways from the CHAP surveyor’s summary report was how Hospice of the Northwest is an organization that emphasizes patient-centered care, and how donor-funded programs such as the grief and loss services to the community and the robust volunteer program, are above and beyond what other hospices typically provide.
Congratulations to the Hospice of the Northwest team!
And, we are all grateful for each team member’s commitment to the CHAP accreditation and recertification process.