The Association had early recognized the importance of external validation of service quality and hospital management, and pioneered hospital accreditation in Hong Kong. There were two phases of development:

Trent Accreditation Scheme (2000 - 2010)

One of the early and important tasks of the Association was to upgrade the quality of private hospital services. Sir Harry Fang, the then Medical Superintendent of St. Paul's Hospital, being a giant in the healthcare sector, advised and introduced the Trent Accreditation Scheme in the United Kingdom to Hong Kong in 2000. Training was provided to 12 private hospitals in the same year. It was the first time in the history of Hong Kong that accreditation of hospital services was carried out. Since then, six rounds (of 2 years each) of accreditation were undertaken.

The Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS) Accreditation Scheme

Moving with the time, the Association changed to engage the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards for hospital accreditation in 2009. Since then, ACHS became the main external hospital accreditation body for both private and public hospitals in Hong Kong. Even when the Hospital Authority decided to withdraw from the scheme since 2017, private hospitals continued to participate in order to ensure continuous quality improvement. To date, most member hospitals have completed multiple cycles, while two member hospitals switched to the Joint Commission International scheme in 2020.