CARF Preparation and Readiness, Annual Support

The best way to prepare for a CARF survey is to do it over time and make systemic changes within your organization that reflect best practices.  This avoids the stress of making last minute changes in order to meet a particular standard.  It also helps to ingrain the changes in your day-to-day operations thus meeting the true intent of a particular standard.  It is good business hygiene to review your operations from time-to-time to ensure you are operating at your optimum.  The Accreditation Consulting Group (ACG) consultants can help you with these activities. 

Annual Review:

An annual review of your organization by an ACG consultant can be cost effective and an easy way to get ready for your next CARF survey.  The consultant will review your Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) that was written to address the recommendations you had in your last CARF survey.  The consultant will ensure that you are adequately addressing the cited areas.  The consultant will also inform you of the latest new CARF standards.  This will allow you time to address the standard or make adjustments in your current operational systems to address the new standards.  The consultant can also inform you of trends at CARF, such as which are the most frequently cited standards.   Another services the Accreditation Consulting Group (ACG) can provide is an annual “tune-up”.  This would include the following: 

• Review of any changes in the CARF Standards.  Annually, there are generally some changes made each year.
• Schedule of all the major drills, safety inspections, plan reviews, policy review, etc. 
• Review of any area an organization might be struggling with.  
• An annual review can be arranged for a nominal fee. 

Review of New Services:

In between CARF surveys, it is not unusual to have added new services.  The consultant can review these new services to give you valuable feedback on if it is meeting the CARF standards.  When organizations add a service or program, CARF generally requires the organization to go through a modified CARF survey.  Our consultants are adapt at helping organizations fit such new services or programs into existing operations and meeting all of the standards.  

Accreditation Readiness Project Planning

As organizations expand and new services are developed, they may need to be accredited during the organization’s tenure.  Also, sometimes it is important to know plan for the new project to meet accreditation standards as the service area is being developed.  Our consultants can assist you in the planning of new services or programs.