In a July 26 Federal Register notification, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it has approved the application of the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality (CIHQ) to become the fourth hospital accrediting group in the nation. The other three approved accreditors are The Joint Commission, the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program, and DNV Healthcare.

The initial notice of application was published by CMS on February 22, 2013. The July 26 notification reports that of the 56 comments on the application received in response, all were in support of CIHQ. The CMS approval is effective through July 26, 2017.