Proposition of a substantive theory for the hospital accreditation process: the “commitment to care” model

Abstract

This study presents a substantive theory that aims to explain the factors that interact and influence the elements involved in the implantation, maintenance, and evolution of hospital accreditation. The study was carried out between 2015 and 2017, through the case of the Transamazonica Regional Public Hospital (HRPT), located in Altamira (state of Pará), in the northern region of Brazil. Interviews, documentary analysis, and participant observation were conducted longitudinally over a period of 24 months, a period that comprised the maintenance of level 2 of hospital accreditation in HRPT, and the evolution at level 3 and its maintenance at this level. Under a constructivist and qualitative bias, data collection was divided into five rounds, according to the guidelines of Charmaz grounded theory, and involved 56 participants. The proposed model, called “Commitment to Care,” was an integrative and systemic alternative to understanding how hospital accreditation occurs in the organization studied. Its structure consists of three central categories: “The way we work,” “Accreditation as an instrument of action,” and ‘Love to the cause’; a category of support: ‘Development of health professionals’; and two outcome categories: “Excellence in Outcomes” and “Patient-Centered Care.” These findings were in dialogue with complex thinking and the study of institutions.

Keywords:
Hospital Accreditation; Substantive theory; Public hospital