Akredytacja podmiotów leczniczych - wybrane aspekty prawne

Celem artykułu jest prezentacja wybranych przepisów, które definiują warunki funkcjonowania zewnętrznego systemu oceny jakości opieki zdrowotnej w podmiotach leczniczych. Wpisują się one w obszar kontroli realizowanej przede wszystkim przez administrację państwową. Przedstawiono również wyniki kontroli NIK w tej dziedzinie, wzbogacając je o standardy badań przyjmowane przez tę instytucję. Opracowanie uwzględnia obserwacje autora wynikające z jego pracy naukowej oraz doświadczeń zawodowych.

In the article, provisions have been discussed that define the conditions for the ope rations of the external system for evaluating the quality of healthcare in treatment entities. These are part of the audit conducted, in the first place, by the state admini stration. Also, the results of NIK’s audit in the area have been presented, enriched with the standards of NIK’s examination. The material includes the author’s observations stemming from his scientific dissertation and professional experience. They indicate that the persons who manage treatment entities frequently decide to implement ac creditation programmes of the CMJ. It can be assumed that its objective is to certify that the entity meets the standards for providing healthcare services. Unfortunately, due to the lack of legislative solutions that would provide for a proper, i.e. based on transparency and precise criteria, course of the accreditation process, it needs to be assumed that awarding an accreditation certificate may not translate into the actual improvement in the quality of the medical services provided to patients by the given entity. Considering that the level of such services set out in these standards has an impact on patients’ safety, it should be assumed that the accreditation system, tre ated as external control does not directly affect the operations of treatment entities. Modification of the existing quality assessment system is vital mainly from the per spective of preventing errors in the treatment process.