With the aim of extending the quality of care and patient safety, the Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará Foundation (FSCMPA), which is already a level 3 accredited hospital by the National Accreditation Organization (ONA), is the first public hospital in Brazil to be part of the Qmentum international certification program.

Certification is one of the largest healthcare excellence and credentialing programs in the world, developed from the experience of over 60 years of the Canadian Patient Safety and Accreditation Program – Accreditation Canada International.

According to Camila Monteiro, Quality and Safety Management Advisor at Santa Casa, “with this extra step, in addition to providing the population with quality standards through internationally established requirements for best care practices, Santa Casa do Pará, which is already a benchmark in the Amazon region, intends to achieve a level of excellence in care in the Brazilian and global scenario”.

The purpose of hiring an Accredited Institution of Accreditation (IAC) is to carry out the accreditation process of the hospital in accordance with the accreditation program and the international methodology of excellence.

President of the Santa Casa Foundation, Bruno Carmona declares that the Institution is constantly evolving, “always seeking the best practices in terms of safety and quality in the care of our users, in the sense of serving the population in this who is better in medicine and health in Brazil and in the world”.

“After achieving the ONA 3 level of excellence, we decided, together with our work team, to move on to international accreditation, seeking the globally recognized safety and quality parameters at the service of our users. At the end of this course, by implementing the methodology applied in several countries around the world, Santa Casa, in addition to having national recognition for what is already being done at a level of excellence, will now have a international certification”, explains Bruno.

“It is certainly the first 100% SUS hospital in the Northern region to apply for this certification and if achieved, it will be the first hospital in the Northern region, linked to the state government, to achieve a quality standard and of security in the care of our users”, emphasizes the manager.

Acknowledgement – Santa Casa do Pará upgraded from Level 2 ‘Full Accredited’ to Level 3 ‘Accredited with Excellence’ in 2022. Qualisa de Gestão Institute (IQG) and the institution has been proven to meet internationally recognized standards set by the Organization National Accreditation (ONA).

According to the ONA, to achieve this level of accreditation, one must meet or exceed, by 90% or more, the quality and safety standards. Meet or exceed, by 80% or more, integrated management standards. And meet or exceed, by 70% or more, the ONA Standards of Management Excellence, demonstrating an organizational culture of continuous improvement with institutional maturity. The certificate is valid for three years.

At the end of last year, Santa Casa do Pará was recognized by the Brazilian Institute of Social Health Organizations (Ibros) as one of the 15 best public hospitals in Brazil. Fundação Santa Casa initially competed in a universe of 6,600 Brazilian hospitals and stood out among a select group of units in the country.

Among the criteria evaluated by Ibros, the infrastructure, the control of pathologies and infections, hospitalization, hygiene, among other aspects related to health and patient care, stand out.

Text by the Ascom Santa Casa Foundation