Practice Accreditation

Accreditation

Accreditation for general practice recognises commitment to safety, quality and continuous improvement by meeting requirements of governing industry standards which are set by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) oversees the Standards for General Practices with the purpose of protecting patients from harm by improving the quality and safety of health services. The Standards also support Primary Health Care services in identifying and addressing any gaps in systems and processes. The indicators where appropriate, have been written with a focus on outcomes and patients, instead of on prescribed processes or what the practice does. Western Queensland PHN is dedicated to supporting our Primary Health Care services across our patch to achieve and maintain accreditation standards.

General practices can obtain formal accreditation against these Standards from independent accreditation agencies. Practices must be accredited or registered for accreditation to participate in the Practice Incentive Program (PIP).

Definition of a General Practice or Health Service for the purposes of Accreditation

The definition of accreditation has been recently updated to include extended access to accreditation against the Standards to non-traditional general practice models. This ensures all general practices or health services that are providing comprehensive, patient-centred, whole-person and continuous care are eligible for accreditation against the Standards.

RACGP - Accreditation against the Standards: Updated Definition

In order for a practice or health service to seek accreditation:

• It must provide comprehensive, patient-centred, whole-person and continuous care; and
• Its services must be predominantly* of a general practice nature.
• More than 50% of the practice’s general practitioners’ clinical time (ie collectively), and more than 50% of services for which Medicare benefits are claimed or could be claimed (from that practice) are in general practice.

How can WQPHN support your Accreditation Process?

Western Queensland PHN Primary Care and Chronic Disease Coordinators can assist with the following:

• Identify and support the implementation of quality improvement activities
• Encourage opportunities that result in improved systems, processes and work towards clean clinical and demographic data
• Provide support on understanding and meeting the Standards
• Provide relevant updates and information via our newsletters
• Assist with identifying relevant resources and templates
• Provide education and training opportunities
• Assist in planning and implementation of policies and procedures
• Provide ongoing support to assist in maintaining accreditation

What are the benefits of accreditation

• Promotes a culture of continuous quality improvement in the practice environment
• Achieve levels that meet quality standards for both patients and Primary Health Services
• Enhances patient safety and health outcomes
• Enhances efficiency
• Reduces business risk
• Enables access to the Practice Incentive Program (PIP) payments and MyMedicare
• Develops staff skills and engages the practice team in continuous quality improvement
• Helps identify gaps in systems and processes
• Provides compliance with regulatory requirements and national standards.

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Suggested timeline for preparing for accreditation or reaccreditation

1. ALLOW TIME. Start planning your accreditation survey visit at least 12-18 months before the current accreditation expiry date.
2. Ensure you have registered with an accreditation agency and set up access to any online self-assessment portal to manage the accreditation process
3. Assign roles to key members of the practice team to help support the accreditation process
4. Review the RACGP standards
5. If you are being reaccredited read over your last accreditation visit to identify areas for quality improvement
6. Commence the self-assessment to help identify gaps.
7. Contact your Primary Health Care Officer for assistance in planning and identifying areas that may require support
8. Continue the self-assessment, develop a priority task list, and delegate tasks amongst practice team including, clinical and non-clinical aspects.
9. Organise your patient feedback activity (e.g. a patient survey)
10. Update all documentation/processes/procedures and create any new required for new indicators.
11. Organise a review meeting with your Primary Health Care Officer
12. Organise a final briefing with staff in preparation for the accreditation survey visit.
13. At the end of the survey visit, the practice will be provided with information about the assessment, including any areas that need to be addressed.

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