An organisation’s standards are assessed against the ISQua EEA Guidelines and Principles for the Development of Health and Social Care Standards (the Principles). This is a desktop/remote survey which takes place over two weeks. Organisations are required to submit a self-assessment tool outlining their compliance with each requirement in the Principles, a copy of their standards and supporting evidence via our online survey management system – ISQua EEA Collaborate. A team of international peer review surveyors will review the organisation’s submission, standards and assess their level of compliance against the ISQua EEA Principles.

Am I eligible?

To be eligible for assessment, an organisation must meet one of the following criteria:

1)Be an established external evaluation organisation

*An organisation which carries out an external, independent assessment of a health or social care organisation against standards, guidelines, indicators or other measures. The external evaluation organisation is not affiliated with the service being assessed.

2)Be in the process of establishing an external evaluation organisation.

Evidence of this will be required as part of the application process.

3)Have a formal agreement to develop standards for use by an external evaluation organisation.

If there are any doubts as to whether an organisation is an external evaluation organisation, ISQua EEA will make a decision based on the criteria for independence, impartiality and conflicts of interest:

1)An organisation is not considered to be an independent external evaluation organisation if it owns or shares ownership with healthcare providers that are (or are eligible to become) clients of that organisation. The same is the case if the organisation buys, commissions, or procures health care services from providers that are (or are eligible to become) clients of that organisation.

2)This does not exclude a government (national or regional) from establishing an external evaluation organisation that will have publicly or privately owned healthcare providers as clients.

3)It also does not exclude associations of healthcare providers or healthcare professionals from ownership or a governance role if the association as such does not deliver healthcare services (even though its members may do).

Standards used for internal evaluation or standards that form internal quality manuals are not eligible for entry into the programme. To be assessed by ISQua EEA, standards must be exclusively used for external evaluation purposes.

Fees

The ISQua EEA fees are based on the World Bank rankings for the country in which an organisation is located and operating out of.
Please note a once – off access fee applies for new clients. More information available here.

Annual Fees (payable each year of the four-year accreditation cycle) 2024/2025
Low Income Countries €3,300
Lower Middle-Income Countries €3,630
Upper Middle –Income Countries Category 1 €3,850
Upper Middle – Income Countries Category 2 €4,125
High Income Countries €4,400

To ascertain what fees apply to you – please review the worldbank listing here and the Country Classification List.

Discounts

The following discount options are now available. Only one discount option will apply.

Client organisations will be advised if they are eligible for a discount and which option applies.
Details of the discount applied will be included on invoices issued either on an annual basis or when such discounts apply.

Discount 1 – Multiple Standards:

If the organisation has two or more sets of standards accredited with ISQua EEA, then a 5% discount will be applied to the third and any subsequent set of standards accredited with ISQua EEA.

Discount 2 – Full IAP Package:

If the organisation has applied for, or received accreditation for their Standards, Surveyor Training Programme and Organisation, a 5% discount will apply.

First Time Clients

For organisations submitting a set of standards for accreditation for the first time, an additional optional service of an advance technical review is available at an extra cost of €1,000.

This allows the organisation to prepare their submission in advance of scheduling a survey and to receive guidance on the actual submission including where criteria may have been misinterpreted, where gaps in compliance are noted or where additional evidence may be required.

This gives client organisations time to work on their submission and to agree on realistic survey dates with
ISQua EEA based on the feedback received.

Process

Apply

All organisations must complete an application form and pay the access fee prior to entry into the programme.

Survey Preparation

Organisations will receive their critical path (including survey dates), access to the self-assessment tool (SAT) and the resource documents within the online survey management tool ISQua EEA Collaborate. We strongly recommend that organisations spend a minimum of 10 months completing the SAT and the critical path will reflect this.

Technical Review

The completed self-assessment tool, the standards (if applicable) and supporting evidence are submitted by the organisation for technical review 8 weeks prior to the agreed survey start date. All documents must be in English. The aim of the technical review is to ensure that the self-assessment tool has been completed in accordance with ISQua EEA requirements and that all criteria and principles/standards are rated. A technical review report is sent to the organisation commenting on any areas which need to be addressed. No comment is made on compliance.

Final Submission of SAT

The completed self-assessment tool and the supporting evidence must be submitted to ISQua EEA 4 weeks prior to the agreed survey start date. No further changes are accepted after this date.

Survey

For the assessment of standards or surveyor training programmes, the SAT and supporting evidence will be assessed by a team of international peer review surveyors as a desktop/remote exercise. This survey takes place over a 2-week period. Similarly, the assessment of quality and patient safety training programmes are undertaken as a desk-top/remote exercise over the course of a week by one international peer review surveyor. For the assessment of organisations, the SAT and supporting evidence will be assessed by a team of three international peer review surveyors who will travel to the organisation for a 5-day on-site survey.

Factual Accuracy Review

The organisation will be given the opportunity to undertake a factual review of the draft survey report to ensure that the surveyors have not misinterpreted evidence or missed information. The feedback will be shared with the survey team who will review it and, if appropriate, amend the survey report accordingly.

Validation Review

The survey report is then sent for validation review and this is undertaken by one of our senior surveyors or a member of the ISQua EEA Accreditation Council. The purpose of the validation review is to ensure that the ratings in the survey report reflect the findings and that the report supports the survey team’s award recommendation.

Award Decision

The award recommendations from the survey team and the ISQua EEA validation reviewer are sent to the ISQua EEA External Evaluation Award Committee (EEAC). The EEAC governs the International Accreditation Programme on behalf of ISQua EEA and is responsible for making the final award decision. The Accreditation Award is valid for a period of 4 years. Accredited organisations receive an Accreditation Certificate and can use the ‘ISQua EEA Accredited’ logo. The use of these are subject to ISQua EEA’s terms & conditions.

Continuous Assessment

Continuing accreditation status is subject to the completion and submission of progress reports. Organisations with accredited standards, surveyor training programmes and organisational accreditation must submit progress reports 12- and 30- months’ post-award outlining how they are addressing the recommendations identified in their survey report. Organisations with accredited quality and patient safety training programmes must submit annual progress reports and advise ISQua EEA of any significant changes to their quality and patient safety training programme. Organisations must also provide evidence as part of this process. Failure to provide progress reports and/or requested supporting evidence will result in an organisation being in breach of their accreditation status and accreditation may be revoked.

Re-Accreditation

Organisations will be contacted 9 months prior to their accreditation expiry date to schedule the re-accreditation of their standards/surveyor training programme/organisation/quality and patient safety training programme. Re-accreditation surveys take place at least 3 months before the end of the accreditation cycle to prevent any lapses in accreditation.

Next Steps

  • Check the eligibility criteria to ensure you are eligible for entry to the International Accreditation Programme.
  • Read the Guidelines and Principles for the Development of Health and Social Care Standards and conduct your own gap analysis on whether you feel you will be able to meet the requirements of the Principles.
  • Review the Terms and Conditions which sets out your obligations.
  • Download the Application Form, complete and send to ISQua EEA support@ieea.ch. You will be contacted by a member of the team to progress your application.