Cox Barton County successfully achieves DNV-GL accreditation

Cox Barton County Hospital is pleased to announce the successful completion of its new accreditation process from DNV GL – Healthcare. The accreditation means that the hospital meets or exceeds patient safety standards (Conditions of Participation) set forth by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“We are proud of the hard work our dedicated staff and physicians put into achieving this high standard of excellence,” says Chris Wyatt, president of Cox Barton County Hospital. “The DNV accreditation program keeps us focused on what we want to accomplish, and allows us to streamline our processes and identify opportunities for improvement.”

DNV GL – Healthcare, an accrediting body, is also the only one to integrate the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, which is used by performance-driven organizations around the world to advance their quality and sustainability objectives. Cox Barton County has three years from the date of its accreditation to achieve compliance with ISO 9001.

“The DNV GL program is consistent with CoxHealth’s commitment to quality and patient safety,” said Wyatt. “The ability to integrate ISO 9001 quality standards with our clinical and financial processes is a major step forward.”

DNV GL’s accreditation program, called NIAHO®(National Integrated Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations), involves annual hospital surveys – instead of every three years – and encourages hospitals to openly share information across departments and to discover improvements in clinical workflows and safety protocols.

“We have taken an entirely different approach to accreditation, and hospitals are really responding,” says Patrick Horine, CEO of DNV GL - Healthcare. “Since accreditation is a must-have credential for just about every hospital in this country, why not make it more valuable, and get more out of it? That is where ISO 9001 comes into play, and turns the typical get-your-ticket-punched accreditation exercise into a quality transformation.”

Cox Barton County’s accreditation means that all of CoxHealth’s hospitals are now nationally accredited by DNV GL. CoxHealth’s outpatient centers and provider-based clinics are also accredited.