Recently, the NGHA began the process of the JCI inspection. The goals of achieving accreditation through the JCI include continual improvement in patient safety, quality care according to international standards, utilization of their education and consultation services, and an ability to match international benchmarks in patient health care.
The Joint Commission International is the International division of Joint Commission Resources, an organization which works with health care organizations, ministries of health, and global organizations in over 80 different countries.
Their focus is to improve the “safety of patient care through the provision of accreditation and certification services as well as through advisory and educational services aimed at helping organizations implement practical and sustainable solutions.” (JCI) The standards used by the JCI were developed by international health care experts in order to set up consistent attainable expectations for health care organizations.
Additionally, the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) provides assurance that the standards, processes and training for other organizations such as JCI meet the highest international benchmarks for accreditation entities. In September 2007 the JCI received the much honored accreditation by the ISQua.
The JCI accreditation and certification allows the NGHA access to a variety of resources such as an international system for measuring the quality of services to patients across the board. It also provides benchmarks for norms of quality management in patient health care, strategies to reduce patient risks, best health care practices, and quality control goals to increase the realization of the NGHA services. By achieving the JCI accreditation, the NGHA assures that its facilities are meeting the needs of its patients by focusing on patient safety, improved infection control, safe medical facilities, pharmaceutical safety and compliance with the accreditation standards.
Throughout the past week our staff cooperated with the JCI assessors in the re-accreditation process for our hospitals, namely King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Jeddah, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal Hospital-Dammam and King Abdulaziz Hospital-Al Ahsa. Wednesday afternoon there was an exit briefing for all hospitals which was extremely positive. The success of these re-accreditation surveys was achieved with the efforts, dedication and team work from all NGHA staff members. It is a welcomed result to have achieved such outstanding results and it is an encouragement to continue to work harder to increase our patient safety and patient satisfaction in efforts of promoting NGHA goals and objectives.