Hospitals on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian reservations are among federally operated medical facilities across eight states that will benefit from a new Indian Health Service accreditation contract.
The training and education aims to strengthen quality and patient safety at the two South Dakota hospitals, as well as IHS facilities in Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma. IHS’s one-year, $700,000 accreditation contract with The Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization, will test the hospitals’ readiness for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) compliance surveys.
Mary Smith, IHS’s principal deputy director, said the agency is working with tribal partners and independent hospital quality experts to ensure that uniform processes for identifying any potential issues are in place and are consistent with best practices in hospital administration. CMS surveys assess hospital compliance in meeting Medicare program requirements.
IHS previously announced that it is beginning a system-wide mock survey initiative at its hospitals to assess compliance with Medicare program requirements and readiness for re-accreditation.
With the contract, IHS is also responding to requirements of the Systems Improvement Agreements between IHS and CMS for Rosebud and Pine Ridge.
