Evidence base
The standards are built on evidence. Published, open, citable.
The ASF accreditation standards are grounded in peer-reviewed literature, WHO frameworks, and eight years of operational data. This page lists the primary evidence sources behind each of the four quality domains.
01
Patient Safety Standards
WHO — Medication Safety in High-Risk Situations
World Health Organization, 2019. Global Patient Safety Challenge. Geneva: WHO Press.
Donaldson LJ et al. — Unsafe surgical care: systematic review
Donaldson LJ, Kelley ET, Dhingra-Kumar N, et al. Medication without harm: WHO’s third global patient safety challenge. Lancet. 2017;389(10080):1680–1681.
WHO Surgical Safety Checklist
Haynes AB, Weiser TG, Berry WR, et al. A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(5):491–499.
Infection Prevention and Control — WHO Core Components
WHO. Core components of infection prevention and control programmes at the national and acute health care facility level. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2016.
02
Clinical Quality Standards
Runciman W et al. — Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety
Runciman W, Hibbert P, Thomson R, et al. Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: key concepts and terms. Int J Qual Health Care. 2009;21(1):18–26.
Shojania KG et al. — Making Health Care Safer
Shojania KG, Duncan BW, McDonald KM, Wachter RM. Making Health Care Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices. AHRQ Evidence Report/Technology Assessment. 2001;(43).
WHO — Global Strategy on People-Centred and Integrated Health Services
World Health Organization. Framework on integrated, people-centred health services. Report by the Secretariat. Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly, 2016.
Kruk ME et al. — High-quality health systems in the SDG era
Kruk ME, Gage AD, Arsenault C, et al. High-quality health systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era: time for a revolution. Lancet Glob Health. 2018;6(11):e1196–e1252.
03
Management & Governance Standards
ISQua — Principles for Best Practice in Clinical Audit
International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). Accreditation and healthcare quality standards: a global review. Dublin: ISQua, 2015.
OECD — Health at a Glance: Governance frameworks
OECD. Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing, 2023. doi:10.1787/7a7afb35-en
Braithwaite J et al. — Accreditation and patient outcomes
Braithwaite J, Westbrook J, Johnston B, et al. Strengthening organizational performance through accreditation research — a framework for twelve interrelated studies. BMC Res Notes. 2011;4:390.
Greenfield D, Braithwaite J — Health sector accreditation research: a systematic review
Greenfield D, Braithwaite J. Health sector accreditation research: a systematic review. Int J Qual Health Care. 2008;20(3):172–183.
04
Community Accountability Standards
Picker Institute — Principles of Patient-Centred Care
Picker Institute Europe. The Principles of Person-Centred Care. Oxford: Picker Institute, 2019.
WHO — Patient Engagement Framework
World Health Organization. Patient engagement: Technical series on safer primary care. Geneva: WHO, 2016.
Coulter A, Ellins J — Effectiveness of strategies for informing, educating, and involving patients
Coulter A, Ellins J. Effectiveness of strategies for informing, educating, and involving patients. BMJ. 2007;335(7609):24–27.
+
General Accreditation & Quality Improvement
Alkhenizan A, Shaw C — Impact of accreditation on the quality of healthcare services
Alkhenizan A, Shaw C. Impact of accreditation on the quality of healthcare services: a systematic review of the literature. Ann Saudi Med. 2011;31(4):407–416.
Mate KS et al. — Accreditation as a lever for health system strengthening in LMICs
Mate KS, Bennett B, Mphatswe W, Barker P, Rollins N. Challenges for routine health system data management in a large public programme in rural South Africa. PLoS ONE. 2009;4(2):e5483.
Devkaran S, O’Farrell PN — The impact of hospital accreditation on quality measures
Devkaran S, O’Farrell PN. The impact of hospital accreditation on quality measures: an interrupted time series analysis. BMC Health Serv Res. 2015;15:137.
ISQua EEA — International Principles for Healthcare Accreditation Standards
ISQua External Evaluation Association. The ISQua International Principles for Healthcare Standards, 4th edition. Dublin: ISQua EEA, 2015.
GMJ
ASF Standards — Published via Georgian Medical Journal
ASF accreditation standards and operational findings are published through the Georgian Medical Journal (ISSN 3088-4322, Scopus-indexed, DOI prefix 10.66636). This makes ASF the only international accreditation body whose standards framework is citable, open-access academic output — independently verifiable by researchers, policymakers, and external reviewers.
→ gmj.ge
Crossref member #56297 · DOI prefix 10.66636
Questions about the evidence base?
We are happy to share our full standards documentation with policymakers, researchers, and external reviewers on request.
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