Become an HCAC Certified Surveyor

Surveyor Selection Criteria

To be selected as a candidate for training as a surveyor, the individual must meet at least the following criteria:

1. The individual must be interested in and enthusiastically support the accreditation process.
2. The individual must have credible clinical experience, such as at least 5 years of recent experience working in a hospital at a senior management level. If surveyors do not have actual “hands-on” experience in hospital management, or if it was in the distant past, it becomes very difficult for them to relate to the “real world” of healthcare and to be respected as a peer.
3. Must have good interpersonal and interviewing skills.
4. Must have demonstrated the ability to be an effective teacher. A surveyor is not just an inspector. They must be able to teach how to meet the standards and effectively gain the confidence of the health care organization management team.
5. Surveyors must be a physician who has either been a hospital or medical director, a registered nurse preferably at the masters level and 5 years experience as a matron/director of nursing, pharmacist who has managed a large hospital pharmacy and has a minimum of 10 years hospital experience, or hospital administrator with 10 years experience. Quality Improvement Coordinators who have worked in a health care facility for five (5) years.
6. Surveyors must be able to speak, read, and write in both English and Arabic.

Other Points to be Considered

1. The surveyor must want to do the job of surveyor and not be told to become a surveyor by his/her boss or agency. In cannot be part of the job description of the person’s regular job.
2. There must be surveyors trained from all sectors, public, private, military, and university and later from primary health care facilities.
3. Survey teams should have membership from more than one healthcare sector, with the majority being drawn from a different sector other than the facility being surveyed.
4. Surveyors will work as a mixed professional team and not just be of one profession (all doctors).

Training Requirements

1. Self study of standards, survey process, and scoring and successfully completing the take home exam.
   Attending all training modules.
2. Observation of either a real or mock survey conducted by experienced international surveyors.
3. Conduct two (or more) mock surveys under the observation of experienced international surveyors. The number required would be based on the evaluation by the experienced international surveyors.
4. Demonstrate the ability to write a survey report including scoring and findings and recommendations for each standard that was not fully met

Certification Criteria

To ensure the credibility of the surveyors, there needs to be a formal process to provide certification to those who can demonstrate their ability. The certification as a fully qualified surveyor will be granted by the Health Care Accreditation Council Board.

To receive certification from the HCAC Board as a certified surveyor, the following steps must be successfully completed:

1. Successfully complete steps 1 – 4 (above) of the training requirements.
2. Successfully pass a written test on the standards and the survey process.
3. Have the endorsement and recommendation of the supervising experienced surveyor.
4. Have final approval of the HCAC Board

Surveyors recommended for certification will be classified as certified surveyors, certified trainers for future surveyors, or those who are qualified only to do consultation i.e. assist healthcare facilities to prepare for accreditation but who will not conduct actual accreditation surveys themselves. The HCAC will provide additional training and certification for surveyor trainers and for accreditation preparedness consultants.

If you have any additional questions, or if you are interested in applying for the HCAC surveyors certification program, please send your CV to the following Director of Surveys and Surveyor Certification.