Accreditation for NSA Participants
Protect Your Agency with Third-Party, Objective Assessment From The Organization That Writes The Standards For Correctional Health Care
New! Harvard Study Identifies Tangible Benefits of Accreditation
A groundbreaking randomized trial conducted across 44 U.S. jails by researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Law School has demonstrated that NCCHC accreditation significantly improves compliance with health care standards, reduces mortality, and lowers recidivism rates.
- Improved Compliance: Accreditation increased adherence to:
- Safety and preventive standards by 10%.
- Personnel training standards by 15%.
- Patient care and treatment standards by 11%.
- Reduced Mortality: Accredited facilities saw a 93% reduction in mortality rates, saving approximately 15 lives during the study period. This equates to 0.14 fewer deaths per month.
- Lower Recidivism: Individuals released from accredited facilities were 54% less likely to return to the same jail within three months, showcasing the lasting benefits of better health care during incarceration.
Massive Return on Investment
The study estimated that NCCHC accreditation generated $41 million in benefits, far outweighing the costs of the program. These benefits included:
- Reduced Legal Liabilities: Accreditation helps jails meet legal requirements and minimize the risk of lawsuits.
- Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Improved processes streamline health care delivery and reduce errors.
- Public Health Improvements: Lower recidivism rates and healthier individuals upon release lead to better outcomes for communities.
- Minimizes the occurrence of adverse events, thus avoiding health care-related lawsuits and grievances and often reducing liability premiums
- Promotes and documents an efficient, well-managed system of health care delivery with feedback from knowledgeable correctional health professionals
- Validates with objective criteria the areas in which the health care facility is doing well and areas for improvement
- Educates and trains staff on NCCHC standards, with the benefit of introducing new efficiencies and uniform practices
- Recognizes staff contributions and excellence, improves morale, and aids recruitment and retention
- Helps obtain community support and provides justification for budget requests
Accreditation signals a constitutionally acceptable level of care for incarcerated patients, which translates into improved health status, fewer grievances and lawsuits, and reduced health risk to the community when individuals are released.
Let's Talk This Week - Call NCCHC Program Development
What Sets NCCHC Apart
- Survey teams are customized to the facility’s programs (e.g., mental health surveyors for extensive mental health programs, dentist surveyors for facilities with on-site dental care)
- We can survey one facility at a time or the entire system in the span of a week, depending on client needs
- Survey teams have specific expertise in correctional health care and each team includes a physician
- NCCHC accreditation staff and surveyors have worked in corrections – we understand how to implement standards because we’ve used them and can offer pre- and post-survey support
- Plus: free webinars on how to prepare for NCCHC accreditation, and for states that are bringing on numerous facilities, on-site, in-depth standards training
NCCHC Offers Three Types of Accreditation
NCCHC is Independent
The National Commission on Correctional Health Care has no membership or dues. NCCHC does not require any affiliation to be considered for accreditation, certification or employment as a consultant or surveyor, or to serve on committees or the board of directors. NCCHC staff and spouses are not allowed to accept gifts or consulting fees from those we accredit or certify. NCCHC is impartial, unbiased, expert and dedicated only to recognizing and fostering improvements to the field of correctional health care.