Over the years, the process of accrediting healthcare organisations has been fairly standard for facilities aiming to achieve quality performance and earn a favourable patient safety evaluation. When accrediting organisations, like Joint Commission International (JCI) evaluate healthcare organisations, they highlight areas in which the facilities excel as well as document areas for improvement. Subsequently, they share with the healthcare organisation, recommendations for improvement.
Until it is time for re-accreditation, which is usually three years later, the accreditor typically has limited contact with the organisation, while the organisation works on improving its processes.
However, today, JCI’s accreditation process is evolving with the advent of significant data and various available electronic tools. Discussion around accreditation becoming a continuous process compared to an intermittent approach is also gaining traction.
In an interview with Omnia Health, Dr. Joel A. Roos, Vice President – International Accreditation, Quality Improvement and Safety, JCI, said: "The improvement process in healthcare accreditation is usually thought of as a linear upward slope, when, in reality, it is more like the stock market, which experiences ups and downs. Therefore, there is a need to partner with healthcare organisations to make accreditation a more continuous process, where accreditors visit more frequently with accredited healthcare organisations or connect with them online between those three years. Such a move would help keep their focus on quality improvement and safety so that the improvement process is thought of more as a straight line, without many ebbs and flows."
The expense of bringing an accrediting team from multiple parts of the world, onsite to evaluate a healthcare organisation for multiple days, is one of the limiting factors of the accreditation process. This is where technology plays a crucial role and can save time and money, by offering remote evaluations that are just as effective and complete. In fact, during the pandemic, JCI survey processes were conducted entirely remotely via computer and cameras.
Dr. Joel A. Roos
“Quality management underwent some drastic changes during the pandemic, subjugated by patients’ immediate COVID-19 needs. To further transform the accreditation process, ideally, we could include online check-ins with facilities every six months, which would eliminate frequent travel costs. This interaction would still allow JCI surveyors to conduct meaningful discussions with healthcare staff and effectively evaluate their collected data, since they would be entrenched in the facility’s quality improvement plan,” added Dr. Roos.
He further explained that there is a need to collect data more meaningfully, which means moving from merely capturing data to fully analysing it and then using it to predict trends. “Once healthcare staff collects large amounts of data, then artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to predict, for example, where unsafe events may occur. So, the data can be used to analyse, predict, and facilitate proactive changes within a healthcare organisation.”
"Quality management underwent some drastic changes during the pandemic, subjugated by patients’ immediate COVID-19 needs. To further transform the accreditation process, ideally, we could include online check-ins with facilities every six months, which would eliminate frequent travel costs. This interaction would still allow JCI surveyors to conduct meaningful discussions with healthcare staff and effectively evaluate their collected data, since they would be entrenched in the facility’s quality improvement plan," added Dr. Roos.
He further explained that there is a need to collect data more meaningfully, which means moving from merely capturing data to fully analysing it and then using it to predict trends. "Once healthcare staff collects large amounts of data, then artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to predict, for example, where unsafe events may occur. So, the data can be used to analyse, predict, and facilitate proactive changes within a healthcare organization."
Middle East maintains high quality
Identifying several JCI-accredited hospitals in the Middle East, Dr. Roos noted that the level of quality healthcare in that specific region is quite high. Reasons for this include the fact that most of the states are well-funded, attract quality talent and have the capability to hire from all over the world. There is also positive competition among healthcare organisations within the Middle Eastern states, which pushes them to offer the highest quality care.
“Middle Eastern countries are committed to the highest patient safety and quality of care and are not resting on their laurels. They are constantly moving forward and improving healthcare quality. There is a good type of competition among the neighbours, there. What drives them is a combination of resources, commitment, and competitiveness," he concluded.
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This article appears in Omnia Health magazine. Read the full issue online today.
