The interest in national accreditation is on the rise. More and more behavioral health and human services organizations making an investment in their future by becoming nationally accredited. Why? Here are five reasons service providers should consider accreditation this year.

• Accreditation provides an external validation of the quality of your programs and services. This can increase credibility and boost your reputation to help expand your referral base, attract individuals looking for services, and recruit and retain quality staff.

• As health insurance coverage for mental health and addiction treatment rises, accreditation is increasingly being used as an indicator of quality by private payers, Medicaid and managed care programs such as TRICARE. Becoming accredited can help you diversify your funding streams, qualify for more contracts and receive payment approvals.

• Going through the accreditation process helps standardize policies and procedures across programs/services and throughout multiple locations. This helps build staffing efficiencies and expands best practices across your organization. The result is a consistent framework that can be easily replicated to facilitate future growth.

• Accreditation is also an exercise in reducing your risk profile. In addition to helping your organization reduce and/or better manage difficult situations and emergencies (helping your legal team sleep better at night!), it may also give you a chance to renegotiate your liability insurance, sometimes significantly.

• The accreditation process helps organizations review and strengthen their policies and practices through compliance with national standards of care. This includes creating processes for gathering and using data for continuous improvement of the quality of the services you provide.

For questions and assistance with your accreditation and/or post accreditation, please contact us at 212.209.0240 or email Rocio@AccreditationGuru.com.