Raising the Bar in Home Care Accreditation

By: Susan Mills, RN, Senior Program Director

Susan Mills worked more than three decades as a registered nurse serving home health and hospice organizations. In her current role at ACHC, she manages the teams who guide accreditation programs with a skilled nursing focus—including Home Care, Home Health, and Hospice Accreditation.

Susan’s experience informs her deep understanding of organizations needing practical solutions to challenges while still maintaining continuous improvement that raises the bar on patient care.

Posted: October 28, 2025

Surveyors find gaps in compliance. It’s their job to help you see what may have become obscured in day-to-day activity. ACHC’s educational approach makes it easier to welcome those observations and make improvements for better patient care and a high-reliability organization. 

Most ACHC Home Care Accreditation Standards cited for deficiencies this year come from Section 5: Provision of Care and Record Management—including the standard for the top deficiency. HC5-3K remains the most consistently challenging for agencies. 

Effective documentation and team communication are vital for compliance with the comprehensive standards in this section. Ongoing training in documentation practices can help agencies meet the rigorous requirements of these standards. 

New this year

Continuous improvement is woven into all we do at ACHC, including the annual Quality Review edition of Surveyor. In our recent issue, “tips for compliance” under each standard profile are enhanced to address varying levels of accreditation knowledge and experience across your agency. Explore our new Accreditation Nerd categories to see which is best for you. 

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