This year, we blogged a lot about accreditation management operations because we see the same issues from organization to organization – disjointed processes leading to manual, timely tasks that slow down the accreditation cycle.
Hopefully our past blogs on accreditation management can help guide your organization to a successful and more efficient 2017. Below are the top tips formatted in a checklist to give you a little guidance on where to start in your organization and how to assess if an accreditation management system could improve your operations.
Download our accreditation eBook for a comprehensive approach to improve your organization’s operations – The Complete Guide to Creating an Efficient Accreditation Organization.
Mobilize Your Workforce
In almost every blog we mention the importance of utilizing technology in accreditation. Accreditation is a mobile industry with lots of moving parts, adapting practices to adopt advancements can be a huge time-saver.
Conduct Audits Online
Pen and paper audits are becoming a thing of the past, and with good reason. If you have any sort of digital repository, an audit conducted by hand means double data entry if you want to start analyzing the data collected.
By conducting these audits online, the data is stored immediately and can be utilized for powerful quality analysis. Cloud-based systems for auditing mean the data is stored in a secure cloud, instead of on an employees device, eliminating the risk of losing data if the device malfunctions or is stolen. Online audits also enable organizations to use smartphones to assess and report findings, providing an even more mobile audit process.
Send Reports Automatically
Another benefit of cloud-based accreditation management systems is the rapid transfer of information. When accrediting processes or places that result in the health and safety of people, this is especially important. If potentially dangerous infractions are uncovered during an audit, it is communicated to the right people immediately, so corrective actions can be put in place. Management should not have to wait until the end of an audit to be made aware of critical infractions.
Enhance Client Engagement
By acting as a partner instead of an overseer, accreditation organizations can improve relations with their clients and their quality of service. Oftentimes, the only interaction between the accrediting organization and it’s client is the audit itself. Engaging with clients and helping them succeed puts the focus back on the overarching goal of providing safe, reliable and quality products or services. A few ways to enhance client engagement are…
Share Documents in a Single Location
Regulations and accreditation standards often require strict reporting requirements. This means critical documents are being generated and need to be referenced. To save your auditors and clients time, provide an online document repository to store all accreditation-related files. Reference our Folders or Tags blog post from January to learn the best organization strategies for online repositories.
Digital Self Assessment
An online self assessment module provided to your clients is the ultimate tool for staying compliant. Not only can clients utilize it to prepare for an upcoming audit, it is a great training tool to familiarize new employees with important procedures. Below are four recommended best practices when providing self assessments – read the full blog here.
The best practices are:
- Self assessments should be easy to find and use
- Don’t require them, if possible
- Don’t use the results against your clients/employees
- Offer follow-up
Assess your Operations
A new year means new beginnings! It’s easy to get stuck in the routine of everything and not question it. In the new year, we encourage you to assess your current operations and start asking questions.
Map Out Your Current Processes
The first thing we do when discussing accreditation management systems with organizations is get a layout of all of their processes. We do this through basic workflow diagrams to determine where inefficiencies lie. To learn tips on mapping out your organizations operations, reference our October blog, How we Saved an Accrediting Organization a Ream of Paper Per Customer Every Two Years.
Eliminate Scheduling Bottlenecks
Scheduling audits for your accreditation operations is no easy task, no matter the organization. People traveling to multiple locations with critical deadlines is convoluted and, at times, frustrating. Just last month we discussed scheduling opportunities for mobile accreditation organizations – check it out here.
Research Workflow Automation
If you mapped out your current processes, then you have taken the first step to researching workflow automation. Put simply, workflow automation takes a string of tasks and automates them through the use of computers. This is the biggest help for organizations with disjointed operations, learn just What is Workflow Automation and How to Determine if you Need it from our blog this February.
Whew – that’s a lot of accreditation tips to cover. Though the process may be time-consuming, reviewing each area of your organization regarding the above checklist can lead to efficient operations and more time to focus on customer compliance.
For in-depth industry insights and applications, download The Complete Guide to Creating an Efficient Accreditation Organization.
Have a happy new year from all of us at CompWALK!
