Joint Commission, SGS to offer joint accreditation, certification in 2012
The Joint Commission (JC) and SGS Group will offer hospitals the option of applying for accreditation and certification to ISO industry best practices standards in 2012, according to a Nov. 2 release.
The program will combine the JC’s healthcare quality and safety standards—including their survey process and performance measures—with SGS’ management system audits including certification to the ISO 9001 quality management system standards, according to the JC. The program offers organizations an ability to receive both designations.
“We are providing this option for hospitals and critical access hospitals in the United States that are interested in exploring the combination of ISO education and certification with Joint Commission accreditation as a mechanism to more precisely identify system vulnerabilities and inefficiencies,” said Ann Scott Blouin, RN, Ph.D., executive vice president, Accreditation and Certification Operations of the JC in a statement. “Future plans are to expand the option to organizations accredited under other Joint Commission accreditation programs.”
The ISO option can be customized to pursue certification at the system or hospital level, according to the release, or can include departments such as radiology, laboratory, pharmacy, food services of health information management. The JC accreditation decision and the SGS ISO certification decision are separate, though the survey activities of both organizations may be combined during the routine accreditation.
The program will combine the JC’s healthcare quality and safety standards—including their survey process and performance measures—with SGS’ management system audits including certification to the ISO 9001 quality management system standards, according to the JC. The program offers organizations an ability to receive both designations.
“We are providing this option for hospitals and critical access hospitals in the United States that are interested in exploring the combination of ISO education and certification with Joint Commission accreditation as a mechanism to more precisely identify system vulnerabilities and inefficiencies,” said Ann Scott Blouin, RN, Ph.D., executive vice president, Accreditation and Certification Operations of the JC in a statement. “Future plans are to expand the option to organizations accredited under other Joint Commission accreditation programs.”
The ISO option can be customized to pursue certification at the system or hospital level, according to the release, or can include departments such as radiology, laboratory, pharmacy, food services of health information management. The JC accreditation decision and the SGS ISO certification decision are separate, though the survey activities of both organizations may be combined during the routine accreditation.