Skagit Regional Health Loses DNV Accreditation

Mount Vernon, Washington- Skagit Regional Health  has lost their Det Nort Veritas (DNV) accreditation.  DNV is a deemed accreditation organization for the Center for Medicare/Medicaid also referred to as CMS.

The hospital  was required to  achieve ISO certification in 2016 in order to maintain their  accreditation with DNV and CMS or they could lose their Medicare Funding and ultimately their hospital accreditation it they are unable to maintain the ISO certifications. The Skagit Regional Health ISO Accreditation expired on May 13th, 2016.

 DNV visits the Skagit Regional Health  every year to measure how well they are meeting the Center for medicare/Medicaid requirements.

DNV uses the same Conditions of Participation (CMS COPs) as other survey organizations [COP 42 CFR Part 482] such as The Joint Commission.  DNV Standards are called the National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations or the  NIAHO® standards. The DNV is the only company to combine NIAHO and ISO requirements.

According to an article on the Skagit Regional Health  website, some of the ISO 9001 Quality Management Requirements were to develop program goals, assess performance, implement corrective and preventative actions, and communicate performance assessments to leadership, including the board.

There are six key policies that  control the program performance. Those include document control, record control, internal audits, control of expired, damaged or recalled products, corrective actions, and preventative actions.

According to the DNV website “DNV received CMS Deeming Authority in 2008, and since then have accredited nearly 500 hospitals of all sizes and in every region of the United States. They are the first and only accreditation program to integrate the CMS Conditions of Participation with the ISO 9001 Quality Management Program.”

The Hospital is actively working on a plan to get full accreditation, including holding internal mock follow-up inspections to ensure compliance when they are re-inspected.

Skagitbreaking.com reached out to the hospital for a statement and never received a response after the initial acknowledgement of receipt of our emailed request.