Accreditation benefits
CARF accreditation can help your organization meet the challenges it faces in achieving quality outcomes for the persons you serve. Specific benefits that CARF accreditation affords a provider include:
- Assurance to persons seeking services that a provider has demonstrated conformance to internationally accepted standards.
- Improved communication with persons served.
- Person-focused standards that emphasize an integrated and individualized approach to services and outcomes.
- Accountability to funding sources, referral agencies, and the community.
- Management techniques that are efficient, cost-effective, and based on outcomes and consumer satisfaction.
- Evidence to federal, state, provincial, and local governments of commitment to quality of programs and services that receive government funding.
- Guidance for responsible management and professional growth of personnel.
- A tool for marketing programs and services to consumers, referral sources, and third-party funders.
- Support from CARF through consultation, publications, conferences, training opportunities, and newsletters.
A recent study found the following average changes to CARF-accredited programs from before their first survey as compared to their latest survey:
- 26 percent increase in persons served annually
- 37 percent increase in conformance to quality standards
- 37 percent increase in annual budget dollars
Another recent study examined the association of CARF accreditation and improved rehabilitative care in nursing homes. The research found that:
- Approaches beyond traditional regulation and governmental inspections are necessary to improve the quality of care in nursing homes.
- Voluntary accreditation improves the quality of care in short-stay residents residing in CARF-accredited facilities.
- CARF-accredited nursing homes are better performers in minimizing iatrogenic effects, which can ultimately result in better outcomes of care.
Find out more about this study by visiting the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) summary webpage. 