The role of the Korean Hospital Association in Korea's healthcare accreditation system

One way to improve quality and safety in healthcare organizations is through accreditation. The Hospital Standardization Programme (HSP) started by the Korean Hospital Association (KHA) in 1981 was the first hospital accreditation body in Korea. The KHA developed the HSP into the Hospital Accreditation Programme (HAP) in 2003, which was designed to evaluate the quality of physicians' training, hospital facilities, and systems. In 2004, the Association adopted a Pass/Fail system by medical department. The introduction of the HAP has a significant meaning in the history of Korean healthcare policy. First, through self-regulating assessment, the HAP plays a major role not only in improving Korean healthcare services but also in establishing mutual confidence between healthcare providers and customers. Secondly, the HAP became the starting point of the quality assurance movement in hospital services, which transformed the mainstream of healthcare services from quantitative change to qualitative change. In response to customer demand, several healthcare evaluation programs such as the Hospital Performance Evaluation Programme (1995-1999), Healthcare Organization Evaluation Programme (2004-2009), and Korea Healthcare Accreditation System (2010-present) have been adopted. In implementing those healthcare evaluation systems, the KHA has played a critical role. Moreover, the KHA plans to revise the HAP Survey Forms, reducing areas overlapping with KHAS and enhancing the training programs to produce the best qualified medical specialists who will provide the best medical services to customers.