| Accreditation: Why Accreditation |
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“Why Accreditation is Important”
When a prospective student considers attending
a CAHME accredited program they are assured that the program accepts
and strives to be exceptional. There are many colleges and universities
that purport to offer training for the demanding field of healthcare
management. Programs that seek and maintain CAHME accreditation
have gone further. They adopt the philosophy that accreditation
is a Continuous Quality Improvement process.
The accreditation program of CAHME is designed to
foster high quality professional education for healthcare management
education. The term "healthcare management" is used as
the single term which includes health care administration, health
services management, hospital or other health care organization-specific
administration and management, health planning and evaluation, health
policy and other related activities. All programs seeking accreditation
by CAHME, regardless of setting organization, are subject to the
Criteria for Accreditation. Those standards embody the following
Values:
- Maintain flexibility and adaptability while stimulating and
promoting high standards that lead to excellence in education
- Be customer oriented, especially toward students and employers
representing the many sectors of healthcare
- Recognize the diversity of institutions and programs offering
graduate degrees in healthcare management
- Focus on purpose and results, not only structures or methods
- Support multiple models but insist on demonstration of meeting
standards and established competencies
- Encourage exemplary performance through the documentation, communication
and utilization of documented best and innovative practices in
teaching, scholarship and service
In the accrediting process, CAHME recognizes that
flexibility and innovation are essential to the design and development
of curricula and course formats which meet the diverse educational
needs of all students (both full-time and part-time), and address
the broad scope of career opportunities in the field of health services
administration. Each individual Program's mission, goals, and objectives
statements serve as the basis upon which the Criteria are applied.
The emphasis placed on various applications of health services administration
will therefore depend upon the specific objectives of the Program.
Programs accredited by CAHME are housed in different
settings within the university including schools of business, medicine,
public health, public administration, allied health sciences, and
graduate studies. A variety of degrees reflect the disciplinary
focus of the program such as MA, MBA, MHA, MHSA, MPH, MS, and others.
Without accreditation, quality is hard to distinguish.
The lack of an accrediting process leaves the student unsure of
the quality of the educational experience. Employers of the graduates
want assurance that what students learn and experience properly
prepare them for the wide variety of management responsibilities
they might encounter.
In addition to students and employers are three
key public stakeholders which have a vested interest in the accreditation
of higher education:
United
States Department of Education
The Secretary ensures that accrediting agencies are reliable authorities
as to the quality of education or training offered by the institutions
of higher education or the higher education programs they accredit.
Note that CAHME’s recognition by the US Secretary of Education does
not include CAHME’s activities in Canada.
Council
on Higher Education Accreditation
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation serves students and
their families, colleges and universities, sponsoring bodies, governments,
and employers by promoting academic quality through formal recognition
of higher education accreditation bodies and will coordinate and
work to advance self-regulation through accreditation.
Association
of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA)
Represents the interests of the specialized and professional accreditation
community to higher education and government. Sets standards through
a "Code of Good Practice" for accreditors.
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