Coordinating the accreditation buzz
In the last couple of months, you’ve heard a lot of buzz about VCH Accreditation 2016. Ever wonder who coordinates all of that buzz and information? Well, the busy group of Accreditation Coordinators is at the heart of it.
“I am so incredibly proud of the accreditation coordinators group,” says Serena Bertoli-Haley, group lead for the Accreditation Coordinators. “Since coming on board between January and April, they have ‘hit the ground running’ and formed strong collaborative relationships with all the teams that they are supporting. They bring a calm, focused, real-life approach to helping teams recognize what they already do that exemplifies best practice, and what feasible, sustainable opportunities exist to continue to improve based on the accreditation standards.”
As a part of VCH-wide Accreditation 2016, the group is working to ensure we meet the Tests of Compliance to the Required Organizational Practices (ROP) for the care and safety of our patients, clients and residents.
Over the course of January to April, the accreditation coordinators have been meeting with regional programs, as well as all the local teams that are shortlisted for participation in accreditation site visit tracers, to review the standards, identify common program-wide opportunities for improvement, connect teams to regional resources and initiatives (i.e. the ongoing work of the six Regional ROP Working Groups), and develop team-specific action plans where needed to address team-specific opportunities. 
The accreditation coordinators have also been instrumental in relating large regional initiatives, such as falls prevention, pressure ulcer prevention and hand hygiene, into the lived experience and context of local clinical teams, and helping those teams develop the workflows, processes and key messages that make the most sense to them to embed the standards into what they do every day. Over the course of April, May and June, the accreditation coordinators are also conducting mock-tracers to help clinical teams prepare for the site visit experience.
“This small and mighty team has singlehandedly changed clinical teams’ perceptions of the accreditation process from an intimidating experience to one that celebrates all the great work that they do,” Serena says with a smile. “They work their magic by listening and engaging, building bridges and connecting people.”
See also
On the road again—Adventures in accreditation
More information