**Common Acronyms for Accreditation and Regulation**

*This sheet is designed to provide some basic information on
sector-specific accrediting organizations and/or regulations that may be
mentioned in applications you evaluate for the Baldrige program.*

**[K-12 Education]{.underline}**

**NCLB - the *No Child Left Behind Act*** was signed into law January 8,
2002. It is the latest revision of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA). The overall purpose of the law is to ensure that
each child in America is able to meet the high learning standards of the
state in which he or she lives by the target date of 2014. A key
provision of NCLB is that schools, school systems, and states must
demonstrate continuous improvement by achieving Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) both as a whole and for each subgroup \-- major racial groups,
students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, and
students with limited English proficiency \-- on the state identified
achievement instruments. Each state is required to report on the AYP
status of every school and district annually to parents and students. A
school that does not meet AYP for two consecutive years is identified as
being in "improvement", a status that requires corrective action and may
lead to supplemental services and school choice for students and
parents.

**[Health Care]{.underline}**

**HIPAA *(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability* Act)** of
1996. The *Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health
Information* ("Privacy Rule") to establish a set of national standards
for the protection of certain health information. The U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the Privacy Rule to implement the
requirements of HIPAA. The Privacy Rule standards address the use and
disclosure of the health information of individuals (called "protected
health information" by organizations called "covered entities") subject
to the Privacy Rule, as well as standards for individuals' right to
understand and control how their health information is used.

A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to ensure that individuals' health
information is properly protected, while allowing the flow of health
information needed to provide and promote high quality health care and
to protect the public's health and well-being. The Privacy Rule is
intended to strike a balance that permits important uses of information,
while protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing. Given
that the health care marketplace is diverse, the Privacy Rule is
designed to be flexible and comprehensive to cover the variety of uses
and disclosures that need to be addressed.

**The Joint Commission** was previously called Joint Commission on
Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (**JCAHO**). Examiners may
continue to see this acronym used by health care applicants**.** The
Joint Commission evaluates healthcare facilities' compliance based on a
focused set of requirements that are considered essential to the
delivery of patient care. The Joint Commission mission is to
continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the
public through the provision of health care accreditation and related
services that support performance improvement in health care
organizations. The Joint Commission is voluntary. However, it is
required for organizations that receive federal funds, like Medicare and
Medicaid**.** The Joint Commission is an independent, nonprofit
organization established more than 50 years ago. It is governed by a
board that includes physicians, nurses, and consumers. The Joint
Commission sets standards by which health care quality is measured in
America and around the world, and evaluates the quality and safety of
care for more than 15,000 health care organizations. To maintain and
earn accreditation, organizations must have an extensive on-site review
by a team of Joint Commission health care professionals. The purpose of
the review is to evaluate the organization's performance in most areas
that affect patient health and safety.

**Common Acronyms for Accreditation and Regulation**

**NCQA** (National Committee for Quality Assurance) **-** NCQA is a
private, 501(c)(3) not for profit organization dedicated to improving
health care quality. NCQA programs and services reflect a
straightforward formula for improvement (Measure, Analyze, Improve and
Repeat). NCQA develops quality standards and performance measures for a
broad range of health care entities.

-   Managed Care Organizations (MCO)

-   Preferred Provider Organization Plans (PPO)

-   Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organization (MBHO)

-   New Health Plans (NHP)

-   Disease Management (DM)

**[Business]{.underline} (and limited Health Care and Education)**

**ISO *(International Organization for Standardization)* 9000, ISO 9001
and ISO 14000 -** ISO 9000 is an international reference standard for
quality management system requirements in business to business dealings.
ISO 14000 is a set of standards developed to assist organizations meet
their environmental challenges.

The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards are known as generic management
system standards. Generic means that the same standards can be applied
to any organization, large or small, whatever its product - including
whether its \"product\" is actually a service - in any sector of
activity, and whether it is a business enterprise, a public
administration, or a government department. \"Management system\" refers
to what the organization does to manage its processes, or activities.
\"Generic\" also signifies that no matter what the organization is or
does, if it wants to establish a quality management system or an
environmental management system, then such a system has a number of
essential features which are spelled out in the relevant standards of
the ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 families.

ISO 9001 is specifically concerned with conformity assessment, meaning
what the organization does to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting
customer, product specification, and applicable regulatory requirements,
and to improve continually its performance in this regard. Customers
frequently require their suppliers to be "ISO 9001 certified." This
means an accredited independent auditor has certified in writing that
ISO's conformity assessment standard has been met. An organization can
publicly advertise that it is ISO 9001 certified in an effort to gain
credibility with potential customers. ISO 14000 is primarily concerned
with environmental management, meaning what the organization does to
minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities and
to improve continually its environmental performance.