Globalization has improved the financial background of communities increasing the demand for health care as most people can now afford the amenity. The community demands provision of sophisticated and high quality health care system which should be proportional to the high premium rates that are charged on health insurance cover. This has lead to the creation of a stiff competition as more health care units are being opened to cater for the growing market.
Though the move has helped to deliver health care to most regions in a country, the standards for health delivery system has deteriorated as the health care givers aim at increasing their scope of clients so as to strive in the competition. This has lead to stagnation in the growth and quality of health delivery systems especially during this period that the world is encountering a global economic crisis.
This explains the emergence of accreditation programs which regulate the credibility of health care units and health care practitioners to certify their competence in accordance to the acceptable ethics, thus fulfilling the desires of their clients and implementing quality assurance strategies. Health care is an important aspect towards the growth and maintenance of a stable economy because the welfare of a society is measured by the psychological, physical, mental and social status of the community.
A nation that supports a fit and healthy community has a higher possibility of succeeding as the community displays competence and integrity in the performance of their role towards the growth of the economy (Hall 2000). This explains the increased demand of quality health care systems especially in developed nations where the health care delivery system includes socialized medical systems. UK has managed to deliver socialized medical systems to its citizens by providing free health care without the reliance of private bodies thus advocating for family business.
However the demand for provision of better health care standards by patients have increased because of the escalating prices of health care insurance cover due to innovations brought about by technology. Thus the need for the government, hospitals, private sectors and non profitable organizations to implement international hospital accreditation systems to guide the competence of health care delivery systems in UK (Nicholas 2003).
The accreditation systems should help the health care units and accreditation bodies to access the quality of health care given to patients while in hospital, after being discharged and the creation of health care maintenance to the community (Kongstvedt 2001). The system also accesses the ability of the health care delivery system to train and educate the health care practitioners, the way risk management is handled and how research to solve problems or to acquire more knowledge is carried out.
Accreditation systems are evidence based and thus require the health care delivery systems to record their operations for future reference which will also help in internal and external audit processes (Hall 2000). Therefore, accreditation programs which monitor health services and facilities are important, for example the Healthcare Accreditation Program (HAP) provided by the Society for International Healthcare Accreditation (SOPIHA), for the external and internal evaluation of health care delivery systems delivered to the community (Kohn et al. 2003).
SOPIHA is a non profitable organization located at Sheffield in UK and attracts the attention of many health care units as it offers free accreditation services (Kohn et al. 2003). The services offered by SOPIHA ensure health care units advocate the observation of health care safety while helping them to achieve the standards stipulated in their goals and objectives thus increasing medical tourism which highly benefits the economy of UK (Kohn et al. 2003).