The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of safety and quality of care in all health care settings. Since 1951, JCAHO accreditation has been recognized within health care as a symbol of quality.
JCAHO's governing board includes doctors, nurses, medical directors and consumers. JCAHO sets the standards that measure health care quality in America and around the world. On a continuing basis, groups of doctors, nurses, and representatives of national health care organizations meet to review the standards for care, and make recommendations for additions and improvements to the requirements.
What is Accreditation?
Accreditation means that this outpatient facility has volunteered to undergo a challenging, comprehensive evaluation. It has made a significant extra effort to review and improve the key factors that can affect the quality and safety of your care.
Accreditation by JCAHO is considered the Gold Standard in health care. Hospitals have been evaluated by JCAHO for more than 50 years. This facility is accredited just as the hospitals in your community are accredited.
Surveyors from JCAHO personally visit this facility to conduct a review and looked at how well this facility:
provides a safe environment for your care.
educates you about the risks and options for diagnosis and treatment.
protects your rights as a patient, including your right to confidentiality.
evaluates your condition before, during and after diagnosis and treatment.
protects you against infection.
plans for emergency situations.
How does an organization become JCAHO accredited?
JCAHO accreditation is voluntary. To prepare for its review, a facility like this one made a commitment to improvement, and put teams together to look carefully at what it could do better to ensure safety and quality of care. Next, JCAHO surveyors were invited to the facility for an intense on-site review. Then this facility received a report identifying its strengths, and outlining what it could improve.
Only a small percentage of outpatient settings have gone through this kind of evaluation. Congratulations on choosing an accredited facility!
The fact that this facility has gone through this evaluation shows an extraordinary commitment to provide safe, high quality care and a willingness to be measured against the highest standards of performance.
