JEFF WILLS JUST SURVIVED his company's triennial survey conducted by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. He calls it "personally horrifying."

And, he adds, in three years he'll be doing it again.

To Wills, the chief operating officer of Canadian Valley Medical Solutions,

El Reno, Okla., you can't enjoy the accreditation process, but you can't thrive in the home medical equipment business without it.

"I have to say it's a positive experience for the company," he says.

OK, it's an expensive one too. While JCAHO lists the base fee as $2,750, Wills said his company, with two locations and about $2 million annual revenue at the time, spent roughly $35,000 on its initial survey, counting preparation and consultants.

"I strongly urge anybody about to go through it to find a consultant," Wills says. "Find a professional with experience for a mock survey. We tried it first without one, and it's awfully difficult."

Wills also advises providers about to embark on the process to maximize the benefits of the survey.

"Do it for the quality it will add to your company," he says. "The Joint Commission and other accrediting bodies take a bad rap on this. I don't always agree with the Joint Commission. . . . But accreditation has really helped our company put things in perspective, especially what we weren't doing well."

Wills says one area that particu-larly improved was equipment maintenance.

"Sometimes you emphasize patient care and you don't track the equipment close enough," he says.

"We are now a better, quality company because of it."

Since its initial survey, the company has grown to five locations with 55 employees and does roughly $5 million in annual revenue. The recent survey cost around $18,000.

"And it went a lot smoother the second time around," Wills says. -K.G.