Prepare by evaluating yourself with the HAS methods on every applicable criterion, starting with the 21 impératifs, months before the visit. Then keep the same evidence live all year, because an ARS inspection can be announced or unannounced.
Start with the impératifs
The référentiel 2025 holds 118 criteria, 92 standard, 21 impératif and 5 advanced. A negative evaluation on an impératif criterion allows HAS to refuse certification, and advanced criteria do not count in the score.1 In the first 72 decisions of the 6th cycle, more than 26% of establishments missed the impératif on declaring adverse events, 18% the one on vital emergencies and 13% the one on somatic examination in psychiatry.2
Use the HAS methods on yourself
HAS makes its methods and tools available so an establishment can evaluate itself in the same conditions as the visit, and it no longer needs to send that internal evaluation to HAS.1 The same five methods apply, patient traceur, parcours traceur, traceur ciblé, audit système and observation.3
- List your applicable criteria. Generic criteria apply to all, specific ones follow your validated champs d'applicabilité.
- Evaluate the impératifs first. Run the HAS grids on each, with real patients and real teams.
- Run monthly patient traceurs. One patient, then the team, then the record, in the services the visit is likely to choose.
- Trace the processes HAS always traces. Medication circuit, infection prevention and adverse event management, among the traceurs ciblés made on every visit.
- Give each gap an owner and a date. And show the improvement dynamic, which the Commission weighs.
- Brief governance and user representatives. Both sit in the opening meeting, the daily reviews and the final review.
- Criterion ______ Method used ______
- Grids run ______ Share of Oui ______
- Main gap ______ Owner ______ Date ______
- Evidence location ______
- Re-evaluated on ______ Result ______
Readiness for the ARS as well
The ARS inspects on a regional programme built on national priorities and risk, or in urgency when patients are at risk. Inspections may be announced or unannounced, on site or on documents. After a report, the ARS asks for corrective actions with deadlines, and if problems persist it can impose financial sanctions, provisional administration, suspension or closure, or refer the matter to the prosecutor or the professional order.4
Questions
How long before the visit do we know the dates?
HAS fixes a visit month, then confirms the dates and the expert team about three months before the visit.
Do we send our internal evaluation to HAS?
No. The internal evaluation stays with the establishment, and HAS no longer asks for it.
Can the ARS inspect without warning?
Yes. ARS inspections may be announced or unannounced, on site or on documents, and may follow a complaint or a signal.
Sources
- 1Haute Autorité de santé, 2025Référentiel, Certification des établissements de santé pour la qualité des soins, version 2025Read source
- 2Haute Autorité de santé, 2026Dossier de presse, Quel est le niveau de la qualité des soins en France, février 2026Read source
- 3Haute Autorité de santé, 2025Comprendre la certification pour la qualité des soinsRead source
- 4ARS Centre-Val de Loire, 2025L'inspection-contrôle des établissements sanitaires et médico-sociaux, comprendre le rôle des ARSRead source
Written by the wai team from Haute Autorité de santé guidance, checked on 16 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. Neither HAS nor any ARS endorses wai or any software.