Medicare-certified hospital

To get any payment from either the Medicare or Medicaid programs, a hospital must meet a set of basic standards for quality of care, called “conditions of participation.” Medicare-certified hospitals are reviewed periodically (every 3 years), either by their State Survey Agency or a CMS-approved national accreditation organization, to assure that they're continuing to provide services of acceptable quality. Accreditation is optional, but most short-term acute hospitals in the U.S. choose to be Medicare-certified based on accreditation by a CMS approved national accreditation organization. There are currently 3 CMS-approved national hospital accreditation organizations- the American Osteopathic Association/health care Facilities Accreditation Program (AOA/HFAP), Det Norske Veritas Healthcare (DNV Healthcare), and The Joint Commission (TJC).