FAQs
What is Accreditation?Who do I need to be accredited with?
Who can be accredited by QIC?
What are the benefits of participating in an Accreditation Program?
How much does Accreditation cost?
What does Accreditation involve?
Who are QICSA?
What is the difference between QICSA and QIC?
What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a formal verification by a professional body (e.g. Quality Improvement Council - QIC) to say that an organisation has met the relevant standards (appropriate to its operation) and is participating in a program of Continuous Quality Improvement. Accreditation is awarded for three years.
The QICSA Fact sheet 'What is Accreditation?'
[ back to top ]
Who do I need to be accredited with?
As a Victorian community-based facility providing PDRS services you can be accredited with a number of accreditation agencies such as QICSA who are licensed to provide the QIC Accreditation Program.
Who can be accredited by QIC?
Any organisation in the human services field may participate in the QIC Program of Accreditation whether your main business is service provision, advocacy, communication or policy development. Your organisation may be a self-help, not-for-profit, government operated or commercially operated workplace.
To be accredited your organisation must meet the program requirements:
- Formally join and maintain engagement with the Program
- Meet the Standards and complete review requirements
- Demonstrate Continuous Quality Improvement.
[ back to top ]
Who can be accredited by QIC?
Any organisation in the human services field may participate in the QIC Program of Accreditation, whether your main business is service provision, advocacy, communication or policy development. Your organisation may be a self-help, not-for-profit government operated or commercially operated workplace.
To be accredited, your organisation must meet the program requirements:
- Formally join and maintain engagement with the Program
- Meet the Standards and complete review requirements
- Demonstrate Continuous Quality Improvement
What are the benefits of participating in an Accreditation Program?
- It provides a comprehensive checklist to identify areas for improvement
- The Standards are broad enough to cover any human services organisation
- It provides access to extensive feedback from peers
- Support is provided to participating organisations by Licensed Providers.
The process helps organisations:
- Implement sustainable Quality Improvement
- Access outstanding resource material and training on Quality Improvement and accreditation status may be used for marketing or promotional purposes.
[ back to top ]
How much does Accreditation cost?
Each License Provider has its own fee structure, which is determined by a number of things such as:
- The size and complexity of your organisation
- The number of sites your organisation operates
- The number of staff employed by your organisation
- The Licensee will carry out a quotation.
[ back to top ]
What does Accreditation involve?
Organisations participating in the QIC Program undertake a continuous four-stage cycle:
Stage 1. Internal Review
The organisation:
- becomes familiar with the Standards
- critically reflects on their practice in relation to the Standards
- identifies evidence of their capacity to meet the Standards, and
- identifies areas for improvement.
Stage 2. External Review
Peer reviewers collect evidence and conduct the assessment of the participating organisation against the Standards.
Stage 3. Feedback
The information in the draft review report is checked with the participating organisation.
Stage 4. Taking Action
In this stage, the participating organisation puts its plans for Quality Improvement into practice.
[ back to top ]
Who are QICSA?
Quality Improvement and Community Services Association (QICSA) is the Victorian Licensee of the Quality Improvement Council (QIC), which operates an Australasian standards and accreditation program.
QICSA:
- Is based in the Australian Institute for Primary Care at La Trobe University, and offers support, resources and accreditation reviews to the health and community sector in Victoria.
- Implements the QIC program, which aims to promote and assist health and community services through accreditation against its own and industry based Standards as well as a program of Continuous Quality Improvement.
- Assists organisations to undertake Continuous Quality Improvement activities.
- Reviews organisations against the relevant QIC Standards, using a professionally trained peer review team.
[ back to top ]
What is the difference between QICSA and QIC?
- The Quality Improvement Council Limited (QIC) is an Australasian standards development and accreditation body serving the health and community services sectors. QICSA is a licensed provider.
- An incorporated not-for-profit body, QIC has been awarding accreditation to organisations meeting its Standards for over 20 years.
- Until 1998, QIC was known as the Community Health Accreditation and Standards Program (CHASP).
- Over 400 organisations from more than 25 service types in all Australian states and territories, and New Zealand, are currently in the QIC Program, undertaking a three-year Review Cycle of self- assessment, external peer review, feedback, and taking action.
- Organisations may be accredited if they meet QIC’s requirements, they contract to be in the Program for the full cycle, meet the prescribed standards, and demonstrate Continuous Quality Improvement. The QIC Program has a primary care flavour that emphasises practices, which deliver safe, needs-focused, responsive and empowering consumer outcomes in a community context.
The Program provides a comprehensive assessment of organisational safety and Quality, while working with organisations to foster Continuous Quality Improvement. The central ideas underlying QIC’s Program are set down in the Core Concepts.
- The central ideas underlying QIC’s Program are set down in the 6th Edition QIC Standards. QIC has developed a set of Standards that are applicable to most community-based services. They comprise of a series of 18 Standards divided into the following three groupings:
1. Building quality organisations
2. Providing quality services and programs
3. Sustaining quality external relationships
For further information about the Standards, please visit the QIC website.
[ back to top ]