decision letter," she says. "In addition, you receive a timeline for
preparing for reaccreditation."
Review the latest standards and monitor new or revised directives
in order to remain in compliance, recommends Ms. Piotrowski. "Try
to be survey-ready all the time," she says. "That way, you can con-
stantly determine if your center needs to conduct a mock survey,
which is a helpful exercise, especially if you've implemented new pro-
tocols or added new staff members who haven't been through the sur-
vey process."
Preparing for a surveyor's visit is not a job for procrastinators or
a responsibility one staff member can handle. "Designate a point
person to lead an accreditation committee," says Ms. Piotrowski.
"Pull a leadership team together that meets every few weeks and
determine who's going to take ownership in making sure the staff
and facility comply with the standards noted in each chapter of the
accreditor's manual."
Ms. Piotrowski notes that her facility's committee is not made
up of only managers and supervisors — team members from differ-
ent departments participate in the meetings. "It's important to
involve frontline staff, so they can help revise policies and proce-
dures," she says.
After each chapter of the accreditation manual is assessed and
addressed, have staff participate in a crosswalk, or a side-by-side com-
parison of accreditation policies and how your facility meets them.
Document the title of the policy and how you meet each policy's spe-
cific standards, suggests Ms. Piotrowski. This exercise lets you track
which standards your facility meets — and which it doesn't.
This is when having extra time to prepare for a survey truly comes
in handy. Ms. Piotrowski says her team sometimes realizes they have
more work to do than they first thought to make sure the facility com-
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