Skaggs receives Joint Commission accreditation

Skaggs Regional Medical Center in Branson has received official accreditation from the Joint Commission, health center officials announced Thursday, following a lengthy survey process and review of more than 2,000 standards.

The commission is an independent, nonprofit organization and one of the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting groups in health care.

Skaggs announced in August that it had complete a successful survey, comprising an in-depth review of delivered patient services, and several "tracers," where surveyors followed patients from entry point to discharge focusing on the quality of direct patient care.

"Joint Commission accreditation holds hospitals accountable for high quality and safety, and that is what Skaggs Regional Health Center is about," Skaggs Accreditation Director Cathy Rowden said in a news release. "A second benefit is that we are reported on national Web sites as being accredited and a health facility of choice ... and third is that many private insurance companies will not reimburse for services unless the facility is accredited."

Joint Commission accreditation comes on the heels of Skaggs' fourth consecutive year being selected as a HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence. Recipients of that award had mortality rates that, on average, were 27 percent lower than other hospitals.