Joint Commission to view pediatric hospitals as specialized centers, not just care facilities for ‘small adults’
The largest accrediting and certifying organization in U.S. healthcare announced July 29 it will begin upholding standards that distinguish children from adults.
The Joint Commission said the fine-tuning will change the way it accredits and certifies children’s hospitals for, specifically, “the care they provide the nation’s youngest patients.”
“The reality is children are not simply ‘small adults,’” explains Joint Commission president and CEO Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD.
Perlin adds the organization will work directly with children’s healthcare stakeholders to make sure the JC’s standards are optimally applicable for pediatric patients.
The organization says it has formed an advisory committee of “world class” pediatric experts, including executive administrators as well as experienced clinicians, to help steer the effort.
The Joint Commission has named two eminent pediatric health leaders to lead the committee. They are Michelle Riley-Brown, MHA, president and CEO of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Michael Anderson, MD, pediatric intensivist and former CEO of UC-San Francisco’s Benioff Children’s Hospital.
Discrete project now, national forum later
The Brown-Anderson committee’s initial aims include exploring how accreditation and certification can better serve the healthcare needs of children, the JC announcement says. The organization adds it hopes the exercise will function like a national forum for thought leadership, policy innovation and clinical insight.
“We’re not just redefining standards—we’re building a future where leading children’s health experts are shaping the national conversation on healthcare excellence,” Anderson says.
The unfolding evolution of the JC’s operational model vis-à-vis children’s healthcare will be a key theme at the organization’s upcoming summit, “Unify 2025,” slated for Sept. 16-17 in the nation’s capital.
“Children’s healthcare services are distinct, and we must intentionally evaluate and treat them as such,” JC head Perlin says. “[O]ur goal is to build a framework for quality and safety that children and their families can rely on every time they walk through the doors of an accredited healthcare organization.”
Full announcement here.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.