Aspirus St. Luke's Earns New Quality-Based Accreditation from DNV GL - Healthcare

St. Luke’s is pleased to announce the successful completion of its new accreditation process from DNV GL – Healthcare.

By earning accreditation, St. Luke’s has demonstrated that it meets or exceeds patient safety standards set by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. DNV GL’s accreditation program is the only one to integrate the ISO 9001 Quality Management System with the Medicare Conditions of Participation.

“The DNV GL program is consistent with our long-term commitment to quality and patient safety,” St. Luke’s Director of Quality Management Pam Helgeson-Britton said. “The ability to integrate the ISO 9001 quality standards into our clinical and financial processes is a major step forward.”

St. Luke’s has three years from the date of its accreditation to achieve compliance with ISO 9001, the world’s most trusted quality management system used by performance-driven organizations around the world to advance their quality and sustainability objectives.

“We have taken an entirely different approach to accreditation, and hospitals are really responding,” DNV GL – Healthcare CEO Patrick Horine said. “Since accreditation is a must-have credential for just about every hospital in this country, why not make it more valuable, and get more out of it? That’s where ISO 9001 comes into play, and turns the typical get-your-ticket punched accreditation exercise into a quality transformation.”

DNV GL’s accreditation program, called NIAHO® (National Integrated Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations), involves annual hospital surveys (instead of every three years) and encourages hospitals to openly share information across departments and to discover improvements in clinical workflows and safety protocols.