HOUSTON, Dec. 10, 2014 – The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted a new six-year approval of DNV GL – Healthcare as a national accrediting organization for critical access hospitals. The decision, published in the Federal Register, is active for the period of Dec. 23, 2014 through Dec. 23, 2020.

DNV GL – Healthcare is also a CMS-authorized accrediting organization for acute care hospitals, and in total accredits more than than 400 hospitals. The DNV GL accreditation program, for both acute care and critical access hospitals, is the first and only program to integrate the Medicare Conditions of Participation with the ISO 9001 Quality Management System.

As a result, hospitals see a transformation in their entire approach to quality and patient safety, and often report a complete change in the culture of their organizations.

Critical access hospitals are generally small, rural hospitals with no more than 25 in-patient beds. CMS has separate billing and accreditation regulations for critical access and acute care (larger) hospitals.