Joint Commission Streamlines Approach to Accreditation

Joint Commission has announced a new approach to hospital and healthcare accreditation and certification that it says dramatically streamlines and simplifies processes, provides better support, and more efficiently shares best practices across the healthcare ecosystem.

The organization says Accreditation 360 marks the most significant, comprehensive evolution of its accreditation process since 1965.

This effort builds on the reduction of 400 requirements announced in 2023. Joint Commission is removing an additional 714 requirements from the hospital accreditation program. Starting in July, Joint Commission standards will be available online and will be searchable by the public.

Joint Commission has organized and simplified its accreditation requirements into 14 National Performance Goals. 

“Healthcare organizations today are navigating historic complexity, and the pressures are enormous,” said Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of Joint Commission, in a statement. “Healthcare is also changing, and Joint Commission must change, too. Accreditation 360 directly responds to what this moment demands. Designed by a team of operationally experienced healthcare leaders, this new model removes standards whose time has passed, and we are introducing a suite of novel tools for benchmarking and performance support. Reducing burden helps busy clinicians and healthcare organizations focus on what matters most: delivering the safest, highest-quality and most compassionate healthcare possible.”

To shift the focus from observation of structure and process to outcome measures, The National Quality Forum (NQF), an affiliate of Joint Commission, is introducing a next-generation certification program, starting with four key areas prioritized by patients, clinicians, health systems, payers, and purchasers: Maternity Care; Hip & Knee Procedural Care; Spine Procedural Care; Cardiovascular Procedural Care.

Joint Commission also is introducing the Survey Analysis For Evaluating STrengths (SAFEST) Program to recognize leading practices at accredited organizations and to support the dissemination of safety and quality improvement insight. This will ultimately evolve into a database of leading practices where surveyors can access organizations’ performance strengths for industry-wide collaborative learning.