JCI Accreditation & ISO 9000 Certification

JCI is a subsidiary of the Joint Council on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). JCAHO is the leading hospital accreditation body in the United States; the standards set for in JCAHO are the same as those under the JCI.

Prior to the survey of a medical facility by the JCI, the facility obtains a Standards Manual and begins preparation. The Standards manual of JCAHO, however, is very comprehensive; it’s a very exhaustive process simply to determine whether or not one’s facility meets the standards within the manual, let alone take corrective measures to improve whatever needs to be improved. The Joint Commission Resources assists an organization by providing survey readiness consultations and mock surveys; they provide thorough preparation for Joint Commission accreditation

This may entail a comprehensive overhaul of their services, operating systems be it documentation, time taken for various functions, active recruitment of some of the country’s best-trained physicians and other qualified & experienced personnel, or, it may just be an improvement in one or two areas.

One to Two years is the time it takes to complete the process of the JCI accreditation

Six to nine months prior to the survey, the medical facility submits their application to the JCI. After that, the facility must fill out and submit the JCI Survey Contract & Travel form.

Two months before the survey, the facility is contacted by the JCI Survey Team Leader, the one who will be in charge of the surveying methods at the facility.

Two months after the survey has taken place, the JCI sends the facility their decision & recommendations.

If JCI determines that the facility has not met its standards, the facility must submit a revised application and the process begins all over again. If, however, the decision is to accredit the facility, it means that the JCI has determined the facility meets or surpasses the requirements set forth in the Standards Manual.

Having JCI accreditation is a strong positive when a facility is attempting to promote itself as a medical tourism destination. More importantly, it means that the hospital is providing a very high level of service, which obviously is also good for the patients. Usually, the rooms in these hospitals are like those of a five-star hotel. Some Hospitals in India have proven themselves worthy of a JCI accreditation while some are in the process of acquiring JCI Accreditation

Hospitals eligible for International Patients need to be technologically advanced with acquisition of the latest and most advanced medical equipment such as (but not limited to) --

a PET scanner,

a 3-Tesla MRI scanner,

a Flat-Panel Detector Cardiac Cathlab system,

a combined Gamma Camera/CT system, and the

64-slice CT scanner

ISO 9000 is a family of The International Organization for Standardization standards for quality management systems. Developed from the British Standards Institution's BS 5750, the ISO 9000 standards are maintained by ISO and administered by accreditation and certification bodies.

ISO is a network of the National Standards institutes of 157 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO is a non-governmental organization: its members are not, as is the case in the United Nations system, delegations of national governments.

Therefore, ISO is able to act as a bridging organization in which a consensus can be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society, such as the needs of stakeholder groups like consumers and users

ISO 9000 is more in reference to making sure the product -- any product, such as HealthCare Delivery -- has been produced in the most efficient and effective manner possible. ISO 9000 quality system does not attest the compliance of the produced products with a code or a standard. ISO 9000 does not guarantee the quality of end products and services; rather, it certifies that consistent business processes are being applied.

ISO 14000 exists to ensure the product (any product) has the lowest possible environmental impacts.

How ISO Standards benefit Society :

For customers, the worldwide compatibility of technology which is achieved when products and services are based on International Standards brings them an increasingly wide choice of offers, and they also benefit from the effects of competition among suppliers

For developing countries, International Standards that represent an international consensus on the state of the art constitute an important source of technological know-how. By defining the characteristics that products and services will be expected to meet on export markets, International Standards give developing countries a basis for making the right decisions when investing their scarce resources and thus avoid squandering them.

For everyone, International Standards can contribute to the quality of life in general by ensuring that the transport, machinery and tools we use are safe.

For more details Visit the ISO website : www.iso.org

All these factors put together make these hospitals a destination world-class treatment in areas like for :--

heart surgery,

coronary angioplasty and stenting,

cosmetic surgery

hip and knee replacement,

eye care,

digestive and liver disease management,

cancer diagnosis and therapy

spinal surgery

neurosurgery and neurology,

bone marrow transplants,