CARF® is a registered trademark of the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. AccreditationInfo.com is hosted and maintained by Accreditation Now, Inc. as a public resource for organizations interested in or looking to maintain CARF® accreditation. Accreditation Now, Inc. is not a partner or affiliated with CARF® in any way. If you are looking for CARF.org please click here

3 Tips to Help Prepare for a CARF® Survey

While obtaining CARF® Accreditation should be a goal for most organizations that are eligible for it, the steps required to complete the process can be a massive and stressful undertaking. With the right resources and preparation, anyone can ensure they are able to find success and obtain a positive accreditation decision. In this article, we will explore 3 tips to help you prepare for a CARF® survey to help make the process easier once the surveyor arrives.

Conduct a Self-Audit

Once you have a firm understanding of what is required to achieve CARF® Accreditation and think your business is ready to apply for a survey, take the time to self-audit your business. It is important to ensure that you have taken the steps necessary to achieve accreditation as outlined in the CARF® manual designated for your specific service type. If you are unsure, you may consider working with a CARF® consultant that can pinpoint any outlying issues that may be present. By conducting a self-audit, you can ensure that anything that was missed throughout the process is parepupdated to reflect current CARF® standards before it’s too late.

Prepare Your Staff

Before beginning the journey towards CARF® accreditation, you likely designated the responsibility of preparing the business for CARF® accreditation to a single staff individual or a handpicked group. Before a surveyor arrives to evaluate your business, it is important to ensure that your staff has a working knowledge of CARF® standards to ensure a positive experience. The team responsible for initiating and implanting CARF® standards should be available to work as a liaison for the surveyor to answer any questions.

Leverage Available Resources

Partnering with a subscription-based service like Accreditation Now, Inc. ensures that you have open access to many CARF® policies and procedures consistent with meeting the CARF® accreditation standards. These tools and resources have been created in conjunction with existing CARF® requirements and are updated as needed to ensure your organization remains updated with any changes that may occur. Your subscription also includes Online interactive training tools to assist in meeting the training requirements for successful accreditation.

This content provided by: Accreditation Now, Inc.

About Accreditation Now

Accreditation Now has been online since 2003 providing organizations access to Policies, Procedures, Plans, Tools, Forms, Surveys and Trainings. With over 500 organizations having subscribed to Accreditation Now for assistance in either gaining or maintaining their CARF® Accreditation – our products have proven over the last decade that they will help organizations meet the standards required by CARF®.

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What our customers have to say

Southern Ohio Behavioral Health has been using Accreditation Now for many years and have found it to be a wonderful service when preparing for national accreditation. We began using the service prior to our 2006 CARF® accreditation survey. Having never gone through a CARF® survey I was very concerned about how to prepare and how to meet all of the policy standards. I discovered that Accreditation Now offered guidance and assistance that allowed us to easily check our current policies and procedures for compliance as well as draft new policies that would meet CARF® approval. I credit Accreditation Now for the excellent marks we received on the 2006 survey.
Dr. W. Michael Dowdy
Dr. W. Michael DowdySouthern Ohio Behavioral Health, Ironton, Ohio
Hello, RRRC just received notice of a three year certification from the CARF® review held on Oct. 15 and 16, 2015. The assistance from your web-site was highly valuable! I plan on continuing to use the resources provided by Accreditation Now!
Nancy Thompson
Nancy ThompsonRose Rock Recovery Center, Vinita, Oklahoma
We were beginning our CARF® accreditation process and did not have the infrastructure in place that Accreditation Now provided. Accreditation Now gives us the ability to track trainings, complaints, surveys, etc. To develop spreadsheets and maintain them would have taken and continued to take a lot of work hours. The data we pull from Accreditation Now is appreciated by all of our surveyors. We would absolutely recommend Accreditation Now to others and we have.
John Nosacka
John NosackaCapital Area Human Services District, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
We chose Accreditation Now as an aid for accreditation as a mechanism to aid in quality control and a quick way to orient new staff in the required domains of CARF® standards. The program allows for documentation and comparative performance over time and provides a timely reminder of performance aspects related to CARF® but more importantly to ensure quality services to clients. We have experienced more timely paperwork, quality assurance, and over time our ability to tune our services and be more aware of client parent and feedback form referrals. Accreditation Now represents an investment and (relative to the cost) is a very worthwhile investment for smaller agencies in particular. Their staff is personable, helpful and approachable and turnaround for assistance is very reasonable.
Robert Kissner
Robert KissnerFocus Foundation of BC, White Rock, British Columbia
When I was asked to write about my experience with Accreditation Now, I immediately said yes! Accreditation Now has designed software that has made my business run more smoothly, increase revenue, improve productivity, and gain efficiency. It has tremendously changed the way I am able to provide Behavioral Health Services. As a current CARF® Surveyor and CARF® Accredited business owner, I utilize the updates, resources, training, and software system to support the daily needs of my staff and clients. I am able to update policies, train staff, and maintain compliancy in multiple areas.
Ashlee Day
Ashlee DayA New Day Counseling, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
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CARF® is a registered trademark of the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. AccreditationInfo.com is hosted and maintained by Accreditation Now, Inc. as a public resource for organizations interested or looking to maintain CARF® accreditation. Accreditation Now, Inc. is not a partner or affiliated with CARF® in any way.