We revisit the role of participatory design approaches in the light of the accreditation regime currently imposed on the Danish healthcare sector. We describe effects-driven IT development as an instrument supporting sustained participatory design. Effects-driven IT development includes specifying, realizing, and measuring the effects from using an information technology. This approach aligns with much of the logic in accreditation but is distinguished by its focus on effects, whereas current accreditation approaches focus on processes. Thereby, effects-driven IT development might support challenging parts of the accreditation process and fit well with clinical evidence-based thinking. We describe and compare effects-driven IT development with accreditation, in terms of the Danish Quality Model which is used throughout the Danish healthcare sector, and we discuss the prospects and challenges of combining these two approaches.