Physiotherapy Accreditation

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is independent recognition that an organisation, program or activity meets the requirements of defined criteria or standards. Accreditation provides assurance for owners, managers, staff, funding bodies and consumers about quality and performance.

Physiotherapy accreditation is centred on a set of formal standards developed by the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA).
It is a tool to measure and improve practice performance and to improve outcomes. It also provides a basis for minimum standards of client safety and care – essential in the health care industry.

Accreditation can help build a better, more efficient practice, and is a demonstration of a physiotherapy practice's commitment to the provision of high quality health care in a safe environment. Accreditation can build a more robust business, with systems in place to deal with competitive pressures, staff turnover and the dynamic Australian primary health care market.

Physiotherapy practices which comply with the APAs definition of a physiotherapy practice are eligible for accreditation.

The APA and QIP have conducted a joint review of the physiotherapy accreditation program to enable improvements resulting from client feedback. This review has been  in line with accreditation advances in Australia including the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards(June 2011) developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

A revised streamlined Physiotherapy Accreditation Program Pilot will be conducted between February and April 2012, with the aim of launching a new program in July 2012.