Jeff Ralicki, ACSW, LCSW, CAP - Founder
Tykes & Teens
Stuart, FL
We pride ourselves on quality services, so we wanted the community to see that we had The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™. The hospital in our community has that recognition, so people know what it means. Joint Commission accreditation is a known quality indicator.
Our Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement Committee was fully behind Joint Commission accreditation because there were some activities we were not doing that are addressed in The Joint Commission’s standards. Joint Commission accreditation clearly helped provide better service and safety to our clients.
We talked to several accredited behavioral health care organizations that were not Joint Commission accredited. Interestingly, those organizations felt that their review was only procedural, and it did not help improve the quality of care. We were only interested in accreditation if it would help us improve. After talking with those organizations, I knew The Joint Commission was the right choice.
I have been in the behavioral health care business since 1996, but I learned a lot during the survey. We have been monitored by the state, so I prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. As it turned out, the survey was an even better experience than I could have hoped for.