Table 1. Lexicon of some of the common terms (listed in alphabetic order) used in accreditation processes.
| •
Accreditation: The process of formally recognizing an institution, program, or service as meeting certain standards of
quality and effectiveness. |
| •
Assessment: The process of observation and/or examination to measure specific attributes of students (e.g., knowledge,
skills, and professionalism), professionals and/or institutions. |
| •
Benchmarking: Comparison of an institution, program, or service to other similar institutions, programs, or services to
identify best practices and areas for improvement. |
| •
Certification: The process of providing formal recognition that an individual or organization has demonstrated a specific
set of skills or knowledge in a particular field or area of expertise. |
| •
Continuous quality improvement: The ongoing process of evaluating and improving the quality and effectiveness of an
institution, program, or service |
| •
Evaluation: The process of interpreting the results of assessment to inform judgments about an individual, program, or
institution. |
| •
Entrustable professional activity: A procedure or process generally considered to be required for patient care that an
individual can be trusted to perform in a given health care context, once sufficient competence has been demonstrated. |
| • Licensure: The process of obtaining a license to legally practice within a jurisdiction |
| •
Outcomes assessment: The process of gathering information regarding the effectiveness of an institution, program, or
service in achieving its stated goals and objectives. |
| •
Peer review: A process in which experts in within a particular discipline evaluate the quality and effectiveness of an
individual, institution, program, or service. |
| •
Quality assurance: The process of evaluating and ensuring that an institution, program, or service meets established
standards. |
| •
Rubrics: Tools used to evaluate the performance of an institution, program, or service against established standards. They
typically outline specific criteria and provide a scoring system for evaluating performance. |
| •
Self-regulation: A process in which an institution, program, or service evaluates its own performance against established
standards. |
| •
Site visit: A process in which a team of experts visits an institution, program, or service to evaluate its performance and
compliance with established standards. |
| •
Stakeholders: Individuals or groups who have a vested interest in the quality and effectiveness of an institution, program,
or service, such as students, faculty, employers, and the public. |
| • Standards: The criteria that institutions, programs, or services must meet in order to be accredited or deemed effective. |