Accreditation Canada's sector and service-based standards help organizations assess quality at the point of service delivery. They are based upon five key elements1 of service excellence: clinical leadership, people, process, information, and performance.
The Community Health Services standards complement the group of standards Accreditation Canada offers for primary health care services. Although some overlap exists, Community Health Services are distinguished from other primary health care services (primary care, public health, teletriage, and emergency medical services) by their focus on community and population-specific needs and the delivery of programs and services to groups of clients or populations. Community health services are community-focused and are often delivered to underserved, unattached, and special-needs clients.
These standards contain the following sections:
Engaging the community in its health services
Exercising interdisciplinary teamwork
Focusing on community health needs
Maintaining accessible and efficient information systems
Monitoring quality and achieving positive outcomes
1 Nelson et al, “Microsystems in Healthcare: Part 1: Learning from High-Performing Front-Line Clinical Units,” Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement. September (2002): 472- 493.