Update on international healthcare accreditation

Several accreditors have been very active recently, proving that there is more to international accreditation than JCI. DNV Healthcare and the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) have created an alliance to provide single-source accreditation services to large hospitals and health systems.

Several accreditors have been very active recently, proving that there is more to international accreditation than JCI.

DNV Healthcare and the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) have created an alliance to provide single-source accreditation services to large hospitals and health systems. DNV is the only accrediting body for US hospitals to combine the Medicare conditions of participation with the ISO 9001 Quality Management System into a unified accreditation programme. The collaboration between DNV and ACHC is non-exclusive and does not alter the standards or processes each uses to deliver its accreditation services. ACHC is an independent not-for-profit organization providing healthcare accreditation since 1986

QHA Trent is offering Accreditation Plus to hospitals or clinics that have already gone through a basic holistic accreditation from QHA or one of the other recognised accreditation schemes. It enables enhanced, more detailed accreditation for particular services a hospital or clinic may be offering.

QHA Trent also offers a special standard for assisted conception/IVF that affords clinics and hospitals offering these services the opportunity to ensure that what they do is as safe, risk-free, ethical and effective for patients and staff as it can possibly be.

Temos International has launched a medical tourism friendly hotel programme that defines the special criteria for hotels involved in medical tourism; it is audited and certified by TÜV Rheinland.

Another certification to be launched soon by Temos is a standard for international reproductive care; based on the existing internationally agreed guidelines and combined with the Temos quality criteria and a quality management programme that includes the preparation and post discharge processes of the patient in the home country and the onsite procedures in the destination country.

Accreditation Canada International has a new contract with Ecuador’s Ministry of Health to implement standards of quality and patient safety in its 44 hospitals. The five-year project addresses several areas that will assist hospitals in their efforts to meet international standards of quality and patient safety. According to the Ministry of Health, ACI was chosen because the Canadian model of health was determined to be the best fit because of its focus on public and primary care organizations.

ACI is now the largest provider of international accreditation services in Slovenia. The Association GIZ Specialisti (GIZ), a group of 16 specialized ambulatory centres, is an association of ambulatory care organizations across Slovenia. ACI will accredit a range of services for GIZ and is expected to announce similar deals with other ambulatory care organizations and hospitals in Slovenia and Croatia soon.