Much has been written about organizational accreditation in healthcare, but little attention has been paid to licensing providers as a means to control quality in the provision of health and social care. Licensing has a variety of different applications but frequently involves a mandatory assessment against standards. This paper reports on a comparison of the various ways in which the basic requirements for quality are framed in a range of licensing systems and concludes that there are considerable similarities in the approach to quality used across both health and social care licensing systems in many countries.
Prime Focus.Report on national and international approaches to the licensing/ regulation of facilities providing healthcare and supported accommodation. Perth, Western Australia: Report commissioned by the Licensing Standards and Review Unit, 2001
2.
ISQua.Quality and accreditation in healthcare services. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2003
3.
Jost T.The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals: Private regulation of healthcare and the public interest. Boston College Law Review1983; 24: 847-850
4.
Healy J., Sharman E., Lokuge B.Healthcare systems in transition - Australia. Copenhagen : World Health Organization, 2006
5.
Office of the Inspector General.The External Review of Hospital Quality: A Call for Greater Accountability . Washington: Office of the Inspector General, 1999
