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The Benefits A Clinic Miss For Not Having The UHMS Accreditation

By Janine Hughes


Every new of the freestanding hyperbaric clinic has one primary goal; this is to be Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) accredited. It is not very easy as it requires heavy investment in quality medical equipment and quality staff. However, it has benefits that can completely transform the future of the hospital, putting it in a new level of playing field. It is the way to attract referrals from medical practitioners and to assure the regulators and the insurers that you meet the highest standards in the health care practice. The UHMS accreditation is not imposed on any medical facility, it is a voluntary program that offers a guarantee to other parties that the hyperbaric oxygen therapy provided in the clinic meets the rigorous industry standards, the clinic practice evidence based medicine, and that the facility provides high patient satisfaction with high ratings.

In order to be accredited, the medical facility's wound care team will have to provide data that detail the quality of the hyperbaric medicine, policies and procedures, safety and the patient outcomes to the team send by the UHMS to the facility. The team sent will also have to examine the staffing and training process and conduct an insight survey to examine other facilities available like the equipment, the operation and maintenance program, the standard of care and the patient safety procedures among others.

In order to ascertain this, the health care facility has to be surveyed by a team from the UHMS. In addition to above data, they have to gather data on training processes, the equipment operation and maintenance, and the safety standards in place.

For one reason or another, many clinics usually resort to seek help from professional consultants to be ready for the survey. Generally, the terms of reference mainly focuses on evaluating the clinic's current position and the level of conformity and nonconformity. These consultants offer insight in scope, the time, and the resources necessary for full conformity. However, they may extend their services to include steering the clinic in the process of conformity.

A third party consultant also comes with several other benefits. The consultant comes up with a detailed report stating the tasks and timing for the same. In addition to this, the report gives the relationship between one task to the other, and which should come first and second. As such, a clear picture of what is to be done, and the resources required for the same are clear for the party. The consultant may also offer assistance in performing some of the tasks.

The survey conducted consists of data gathering from many scopes of the facility's operation. For patient care, the data has to be gathered on issues such as assessment procedures, the care provision, patient education, and the patient rights. For the oxygen chamber, the data is gathered in areas including electrical installation, fabrication, ventilation, fire protection, and gas system.

For human resources, the data in regards to professional development, qualification, training, leadership and the numbers are considered. Other areas include research and development, teaching, publication, information management, and environmental sustainability.

This in essence means more referrals to the facility as physicians are confident with the quality of health provision from this institution. The insurers will also be willing to reimburse the clinic that is accredited and more qualified health providers get attracted by the hospital. It translates to higher income.




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