TÜV America and Healthcare Specialists Inc. have formed a new alliance to help hospitals receive Medicare reimbursements more quickly and easily.

To that end, the organizations formed a new organization, TÜV Healthcare Specialists, which includes the National Institute for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (NIAHO). The new organization plans to apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to be granted “deeming authority as a national accreditation organization to certify hospitals to receive Medicare reimbursement.” Of the more than 6,000 hospitals in the United States, approximately 40 percent of all patient claims are paid for my government reimbursement. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) grants the authority to distribute reimbursements to only three agencies, none of which use ISO 9001 principles. According to TÜV Healthcare Specialists, implementing ISO 9001 in more hospital management systems would dramatically improve patient safety and operational performance.

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