Accreditations
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services(CMS) 
,
previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration
(HCFA), is a federal agency within the United
States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that
administers the Medicare program
and works in partnership with State governments to administer
Medicaid ,
the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP),
and health
insurance portability
standards. In addition to these programs, CMS has other responsibilities,
including the administrative simplification standards from
the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPAA), quality standards in long-term
care facilities
(more commonly referred to as nursing
homes )
through its survey and certification process, and clinical
laboratory quality standards under the Clinical
Laboratory Improvement Amendments .
Joint commisssion on accreditation of healthcare organizations
http://www.jcaho.org
Their 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.
