The Joint Commission has unveiled an overhaul to its healthcare accreditation and certification process that will cut hundreds of requirements for hospitals, streamline patient safety practices and give stakeholders as well as the public a clearer look into what’s expected of an accredited facility.
Called “Accreditation 360: The New Standard,” the changes are described by the organization as “the most significant, comprehensive evolution of Joint Commission’s accreditation process since 1965.”
Headlining the effort is the removal of 714 standing requirements from the hospital accreditation program, which builds upon the 2023 initiative to cut 400 other requirements. And, starting in July, the Joint Commission said it will have its standards available online for public access and search.
“Accreditation 360 directly responds to what this moment demands,” Joint Commission President and CEO Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., said in the announcement. “Designed by a team of operationally experienced healthcare leaders, this new model removes standards whose time has passed, and we are introducing a suite of novel tools for benchmarking and performance support. Reducing burden helps busy clinicians and healthcare organizations focus on what matters most: delivering the safest, highest-quality and most compassionate healthcare possible.”
The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 23,000 healthcare organizations and programs and is the accrediting organization of more than 80% of U.S. hospitals and health systems.
The group, with its revamp, will be releasing an updated Accreditation Manual for healthcare organizations that more clearly defines Medicare Conditions of Participation while merging the remainder requirements and National Patient Safety Goals into the organization’s National Performance Goals, which have also been boiled down into 14 “critical areas.” These revisions will be “substantial” but comprise familiar concepts, the Joint Commission said on its website, and will go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.
The group will also be giving healthcare organizations the option of a Continuous Engagement Model for ongoing support “to drive successful safety and quality practices and perpetual survey readiness.”
The Joint Commission also highlighted a “next-generation certification program” being launched by its affiliate, the National Quality Forum. The program will kick off with four clinical areas deemed high priority by stakeholder groups: maternity care, hip and knee procedural care, spine procedural care and cardiovascular procedure care.
Perlin said in the announcement that information sharing and collaborative support should be part of the accreditation process. As such, the Joint Commission said it's pairing the updates with a new avenue for recognizing best practices among accredited organizations. Called the Survey Analysis For Evaluating Strengths (SAFEST) Program, the resource “will ultimately evolve into a database of leading practices where surveyors can access organizations’ performance strengths for industry-wide collaborative learning,” the organization said.
“With Accreditation 360, Joint Commission is responding to what health systems like ours have long needed—timely, practical support that aligns with how care is delivered today,” Laura Kaiser, president and CEO of nonprofit health system SSM Health, said in the Joint Commission’s announcement. “This new model reflects a deep understanding of the pressures we face and offers a more collaborative, outcomes-focused approach to accreditation that helps us better serve our patients and communities.”