The Joint Commission, Advocate Health Take Systemwide Approach to Accreditation

Advocate Health, one of the largest nonprofit integrated health systems in the United States, and The Joint Commission have announced a collaboration that will take a systemwide approach to hospital accreditation.

This collaboration will leverage performance data from across the Charlotte, N.C.-based health system’s 69 hospitals to drive continuous improvement and create efficiencies, the health system said.

Created by the merger of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health, the health system provides care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin.
 
The organizations said that among other advantages, taking a systemwide approach to accreditation enables hospital-to-hospital comparisons within the Advocate Health system, as well as comparisons to peer groups with the same demographic profile. The Joint Commission’s benchmarking tool, available to all its accredited hospitals, offers a system-level and hospital-specific view, allowing healthcare professionals to validate areas of high performance and target areas of opportunity.
 
“By aligning our organization around a unified set of evidence-based standards, we’re empowering our entire team to drive improvements for all,” said Advocate Health Chief Medical Officer Betty Chu, M.D., M.B.A., in a statement. 

“A systemwide approach to accreditation is best for health systems to deliver safe and quality care, which in turn benefits patients, the workforce and communities,” said Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of The Joint Commission, in a statement. “We look forward to working with Advocate Health to build resilient healthcare, enable continuous improvement, and share data, insights and experiences to advance health outcomes.”