As part of the continued quality improvement at my practice, I am pleased to announce that we passed our accreditation as an office based surgical facility by the Joint Commission (commonly referred to as JCAHO). For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Joint Commission, they are an independent, not-for-profit organization, that accredits and certifies more than 17,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.
Every hospital that I have held privileges at has been JCAHO accredited. I remember during my training that whenever JCAHO was coming around, the entire hospital was up in arms, making sure that every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed. That is because the Joint Commission is considered to be the standard to which other accrediting organizations are measured.
According to the Joint Commission web site, the value of the Gold Seal of Approval is:
Value of The Gold Seal of Approval™
Because The Joint Commission standards are regarded as the most rigorous in the industry, health care organizations that choose to be evaluated by The Joint Commission are therefore committed to providing the highest level of quality care to their patients. The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ is a clear sign that the accredited organization has demonstrated compliance to the most stringent standards of performance.
To maintain and earn accreditation, a health care organization undergoes an extensive unannounced on-site review by a select team of Joint Commission professionals such as administrators, physicians, and nurses at least once every three years. The purpose of the review is to evaluate the organization’s performance in areas that affect patient/resident care.
Through an assessment of an organization’s processes and personal visits with its patients/residents and staff, the organization is evaluated. Accreditation may then be awarded based on how well the organization met Joint Commission standards.
Getting our accreditation was a voluntary process. Deciding to put our practice on the line for the scrutiny of the Joint Commission was definitely a step of confidence in the quality that we have implemented and the standards and procedures the we operate by in our office. The process is a difficult and detail oriented one, but at the end I have to say that it was worth every ounce of effort my staff and I put into getting our Gold Seal of Approval. Participating in a process like this was like running our practice through a fine toothed comb and plugging all the leaks. With Joint Commission accreditation comes the peace of mind that we have implemented policies and procedures that comply with the National Patient Safety Guidelines and the standards that the CDC places for infection control and patient safety.
What mattered most was when I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Mike Dye, the Senior Associate Director at the Joint Commission. During our conversation I was informed that we are the only Podiatric practice in California to get Joint Commission accreditation for an office based surgical facility! That reaffirms our commitment to our patients and making sure that we are constantly pushing the envelope for what is considered the highest quality of care.
Our mission, is to create a surgical practice that provides our patients
a state-of-the-art, no compromise experience,
that focuses on quality results, in the safest,
most technologically advanced environment available today.
We strive to meet and exceed this goal,
with every patient interaction
ensuring we deliver the highest quality of care in foot surgery.Dr. Ali Sadrieh
To visit the Joint Commission web site and read about our accreditation visit this link:
