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A C C R E D I T A T I O N
explains Ms. Cannizzaro. "I could put my fingers on everything I needed for the surveyor, but I was missing the big picture. I got the how,
but not the why."
She says the why soon became apparent. "Doing the right thing is
the right thing to do, not because an agency or organization tells you
to, but because your patients deserve it," she says. "Accreditation just
keeps you honest."
A pause. "Well, sometimes it does," she says, referring to the facilities that intentionally skirt the rules and the standards by cooking
documentation in anticipation of surveys. "It doesn't always mean
they're not caring, compassionate or unsafe," she says. "It means their
cleaning crews spend time cleaning, not filling out paperwork. If they
weren't doing their jobs, it would be obvious. The cleaning log means
nothing."
The problem, she
adds, is that you can
fake some of the
paperwork and still
provide bad care. "It
all looks good on
paper, but results are
what matter."
Ms. Cannizzaro says
her 33 employees perform their own daily
surveillance. "My staff
identifies issues well
before they would
come across in a
study or monthly and
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