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Accreditation 360: The New Standard

Accreditation is more than just meeting standards. The accreditation and certification process for healthcare organizations is a dynamic, constantly evolving, forward-looking process that fosters continuous engagement and improvement, accountability, and lasting impact in healthcare quality and safety.

Patients expect safe, high-quality care.

Healthcare organizations and clinicians expect a path to improvement that reduces unnecessary burden, adapts to real-world challenges, and helps keep the focus on delivering the best care.

Joint Commission (JC) meets these expectations with smarter standards and transformative tools — all more aligned with how healthcare is delivered today.

Accreditation 360: The New Standard dramatically streamlines and simplifies processes, provides better support, and more efficiently and collaboratively shares best practices across the healthcare ecosystem, ultimately redefining how the healthcare industry delivers the highest levels of patient safety and quality care.

Simplified Accreditation Process

To make accreditation smarter, lighter, and more aligned with how care is delivered today, we are:
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Updating our Accreditation Manual, which more clearly identifies Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-directed Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and Joint Commission’s National Performance Goals (NPGs).
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Removing more than 700 requirements from the hospital accreditation program, which builds on the reduction of 400 requirements announced in 2023.
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Introducing a new Continuous Engagement Model, offering the opportunity for ongoing support to drive successful safety and quality practices and perpetual survey readiness.
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Allowing the public to access and search our standards online.

Streamlined Patient Safety Practices

Joint Commission has organized and simplified its accreditation requirements into 14 National Performance Goals, covering critical areas designed to prevent patient harm, improve outcomes, and create a safer environment for all.
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Focused Outcome Measures for Certification

National Quality Forum (NQF), an affiliate of Joint Commission, will be introducing a next generation certification program, starting with four high-priority clinical areas outlined by clinicians, health systems, payers and purchasers:

  1. Maternity Care
  2. Hip & Knee Procedural Care
  3. Spine Procedural Care
  4. Cardiovascular Procedural Care.

Broadened Resources

Joint Commission has introduced the Survey Analysis For Evaluating STrengths (SAFEST) Program, which recognizes leading practices at accredited organizations. This will evolve into a leading practice database to support industry-wide dissemination of safety and quality improvement insights.
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