Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital is now accredited by DNV GL - Healthcare.
This survey process, completed in September, measured Riverside's care against the standards set for U.S. hospitals by the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services. But DNV GL's accreditation program goes even further by integrating the ISO 9001 Quality Management System. ISO standards are widely recognized in other industries. In health care they are transformative, driving toward consistency, improvement and customer satisfaction.
"We feel the DNV survey process supports our commitment to safety and quality that is at the heart of the Riverside Care Difference," said Liz Martin, Riverside senior vice president. "The focus on effective Quality Management practices will help us pursue high reliability –which means every patient gets safe, quality care, regardless of where they are treated within Riverside."
ISO 9001 certification is the next step for Riverside Shore Memorial. This is the most trusted quality management system used by performance-driven organizations around the world.
"We have taken an entirely different approach to accreditation, and hospitals are really responding," said Patrick Horine, CEO of DNV GL - Healthcare. "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."
Riverside Shore Memorial is one of seven Riverside hospitals to earn DNV GL accreditation this fall.
"Safety, quality and the patient experience are Riverside's priorities, and this accreditation shows that we are taking great care of our patients," said John Peterman, Administrator and Vice President at Riverside Shore Memorial. "The surveyors were very complimentary of the care provided in our hospital. I credit our medical staff and team members with our successful survey; their dedication and expertise was apparent to the surveyors just like it is apparent to me every day."
DNV GL's accreditation program, called NIAHO® (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.
DNV GL is a world-leading certification body, operating in more than 100 countries.