Comparison of International Healthcare Accreditation: Temos, JCI, AACI, and Accreditation Canada

Healthcare accreditation is an evaluation and certification process by which healthcare organizations assess and improve their quality of services, safety of care, and thereby enhance the performance of their organizations. Four of the leading international accreditation programs offer a comprehensive consultation and certification process for healthcare providers in diverse capacities and locations. It is crucial for healthcare providers to consider which accreditation program is the most value-added for their healthcare services. Therefore, this paper aims to compare the above accreditation programs in terms of several standards, structure of the programs, and fees. This information is beneficial for healthcare providers to be informed not only in selecting a specific accreditation program but also in understanding the overall process of various healthcare accreditations. Healthcare accreditation is an evaluation and certification process by international standards in which independent external evaluators investigate a wide range of internal operations in healthcare organizations. These may include safety of care, patient engagement, infection control, facility management, information technology management, and governance. Collectively, the primary objective of the certification process is to ensure that, where applicable, the accredited healthcare organization can provide safe accommodation and high-quality medical services to its international patient base. Furthermore, the process of attaining those licenses also encourages continuous quality improvement in an organization’s internal structure and acts as a method of identifying and implementing the best practices researched by subject matter experts from around the world.

Alsabri, M., Boudi, Z., Lauque, D., Dias, R. D., Whelan, J. S., Östlundh, L., ... & Bellou, A. (2022). Impact of teamwork and communication training interventions on safety culture and patient safety in emergency departments: A systematic review. Journal of Patient Safety, 18(1), e351-e361. https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2299/23287/JPS_15_1579_Online.pdf?sequence=1

Arcaro, J. (2024). Quality in Education: An Implementation Handbook. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tqokEQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=Quality+policy+must+be+developed+in+the+organization+at+all+levels.&ots=xqXLOSYNeb&sig=8EN1FILeZ7vu4MlIYoDhsup_4t4

Berland, A. (2024). A self-assessment guide for readiness to govern. International Journal of Health Governance, 29(2), 144-148. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJHG-04-2024-0035/full/html

Bion, J., Aldridge, C., Beet, C., Boyal, A., Chen, Y. F., Clancy, M., ... & Lilford, R. (2021). Increasing specialist intensity at weekends to improve outcomes for patients undergoing emergency hospital admission: The HiSLAC two-phase mixed-methods study. Health Services and Delivery Research, 9 (13). https://figshare.le.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Increasing_specialist_intensity_at_weekends_to_improve_outcomes_for_patients_undergoing_emergency_hospital_admission_the_HiSLAC_two-phase_mixed-methods_study/25205708/1/ files/ 44509319.pdf

Brand, T., Goetjes, E., & Blankart, K. (2023). To seek program accreditation, innovation, or both? Examining the interdependencies in high-reliability health care organizations. Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, 75(3), 281-302. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s41471-023-00168-w.pdf

Campra, M., Riva, P., Oricchio, G., & Brescia, V. (2021). Association between patient outcomes and Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation in Italy: An observational study. Calitatea-acces la succes. https://iris.uniupo.it/bitstream/11579/117996/1/QAS_Vol.22_No.181_April.2021_p93-100%281%29.pdf

Cancarevic, I., Plichtová, L., & Malik, B. H. (2021). Healthcare systems around the world. In International Medical Graduates in the United States: A complete guide to challenges and solutions (pp. 45-79). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-62249-7_3

Cihon, P., Kleinaltenkamp, M. J., Schuett, J., & Baum, S. D. (2021). AI certification: Advancing ethical practice by reducing information asymmetries. IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society, 2(4), 200-209. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.10356

Cunha, D., Kastenholz, E., & Lane, B. (2021). Challenges for collecting questionnaire-based onsite survey data in a niche tourism market context: The case of wine tourism in rural areas. Sustainability, 13, 12251. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12251/pdf

de Oliveira, A. V., de Olliveira, A. J., & Correia, M. I. T. D. (2020). The history of quality and safety of the surgical patient: From the initial standards to the present day. Revista do Colégio Brasileiro de Cirurgiões. https://repositorio.ufmg.br/bitstream/1843/62647/2/The history of quality and safety of the surgical patient pdfa.pdf

Elamir, H. (2020). Enterprise risk management and bow ties: Going beyond patient safety. Business Process Management Journal, 26(3). https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BPMJ-03-2019-0102/full/html

Frank, J. R., Taber, S., van Zanten, M., Scheele, F., Blouin, D., & on behalf of the International Health Professions Accreditation Outcomes Consortium. (2020). The role of accreditation in 21st century health professions education: Report of an international consensus group. BMC Medical Education, 20, 1-9. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12909-020-02121-5.pdf

Halberg, N., Jensen, P. S., & Larsen, T. S. (2021). We are not heroes—The flipside of the hero narrative amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A Danish hospital ethnography. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(5), 2429-2436. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8014459/

Health Organization, W. (2020). Operational framework for primary health care: Transforming vision into action. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/337641/9789240017832-eng.pdf

Health Organization, W. (2022). Health care accreditation and quality of care: Exploring the role of accreditation and external evaluation of health care facilities and organizations. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DHoOEQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR4&dq=All+international+accreditation+boards+consider+the+intention+to+secure+patient+health.&ots=TbD8NeXraf&sig=fgJGim1ed3cUxmq49Gsix9Ij-Wg

Hughes, G., Shaw, S. E., & Greenhalgh, T. (2020). Rethinking integrated care: A systematic hermeneutic review of the literature on integrated care strategies and concepts. The Milbank Quarterly, 98(2), 46-492. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/1468-0009.12459

Hussein, M., Pavlova, M., Ghalwash, M., & Groot, W. (2021). The impact of hospital accreditation on the quality of healthcare: A systematic literature review. BMC Health Services Research, 21, 1-12. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12913-021-07097-6.pdf

Keeley, C., Jimenez, J., Jackson, H., Boudourakis, L., Salway, R. J., Cineas, N., ... & Long, T. G. (2020). Staffing up for the surge: Expanding the New York City public hospital workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Affairs, 39(8), 1426-1430. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00904

KS, S., & Barkur, G. (2020). Impact of accreditation on performance of healthcare organizations: A review of global studies. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 12(1), 85-108. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJQSS-10-2018-0085/full/html

Lasrado, F., & Kassem, R. (2021). Let’s get everyone involved! The effects of transformational leadership and organizational culture on organizational excellence. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 38(1), 169-194. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJQRM-11-2019-0349/full/html

Macosso, T., Macosso, A., do Céu Costa, M., & Gregório, J. (2022). Exploratory study on municipalization of health in Angola: Characterization of human resources for health staffing and health units’ managers’ profile in healthcare services and training institutions of Cabinda province. Journal Biomedical and Biopharmaceutical Research, 19(1), 3-18. https://www.alies.pt/BBR Editions/Vol-19-1-2022/bbr.19.1.274.pdf

Mansour, W., Boyd, A., & Walshe, K. (2020). The development of hospital accreditation in low- and middle-income countries: A literature review. Health Policy and Planning, 35, 684-700. https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article-pdf/35/6/684/33452670/czaa011.pdf

Mitchell, J. I., Graham, I. D., & Nicklin, W. (2020). The unrecognized power of health services accreditation: More than external evaluation. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 32(7), 445-455. https://academic.oup.com/intqhc/article-abstract/32/7/445/585465

Mosadeghrad, A. M., & Ghazanfari, F. (2021). Developing a hospital accreditation model: A Delphi study. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1), 879. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06904-4

Pratt-Chapman, M., Moses, J., & Arem, H. (2021). Strategies for the identification and prevention of survey fraud: Data analysis of a web-based survey. JMIR Cancer, 7(3), e30730. https://doi.org/10.2196/30730

Rahmel, T., Schmitz, S., Nowak, H., Schepanek, K., Bergmann, L., Halberstadt, P., ... & Adamzik, M. (2020). Long-term mortality and outcome in hospital survivors of septic shock, sepsis, and severe infections: The importance of aftercare. PloS One, 15(2), e0228952. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0228952&type=printable

Rupp, R., Biering-Sørensen, F., Burns, S. P., Graves, D. E., Guest, J., Jones, L., ... & Kirshblum, S. (2021). International standards for neurological classification of spinal cord injury: Revised 2019. Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, 27(2), 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8152171/

Sallam, M., & Hamdan, A. (2023). … influence of Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation surveys on medication safety practices: a cross-sectional study from Mediclinic Welcare Hospital. Integrated Health. https://www.academia.edu/download/109555015/JCI.pdf

Schwenzer, M., Ay, M., Bergs, T., & Abel, D. (2021). Review on model predictive control: An engineering perspective. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 117(5), 1327-1349. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00170-021-07682-3.pdf

Smith-Turchyn, J., Mukherjee, S. D., Tomasone, J. R., Fong, A. J., Nayiga, B. K., Ball, E., ... & Sabiston, C. M. (2024). Evaluating wall-mounted prompts to facilitate physical activity-related discussion between individuals with cancer and oncology health care providers: A pre-post survey study. Physiotherapy Canada, 76(1), 34-45. https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/ptc-2023-0046

Srirak, C., & Sukjai, P. (2023). Guidelines for health system management for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) medical tourists in the regional provinces of Thailand. Asian Journal of Health Research, 2(3), 55-60. https://www.a-jhr.com/a-jhr/article/download/117/82

Temos International Healthcare Accreditation. (2024). About Temos. Temos Worldwide. Retrieved October 17, 2024 from https://www.temos-worldwide.com/about-temos.aspx

Uner, M. M., Cetin, B., & Cavusgil, S. T. (2020). On the internationalization of Turkish hospital chains: A dynamic capabilities perspective. International Business Review, 29(3), 101693. https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/163179/1/IBR_2019_477_R2 Submitted pdf Feb 10 2020.pdf

Ziemba, E., & Mika, C. (2022). Measuring quality of healthcare across borders: The role of international healthcare accreditation in medical travel. Medical Travel Brand Management. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781003277392-30/measuring-quality-healthcare-across-borders-role-international-healthcare-accreditation-medical-travel-elizabeth-ziemba-claudia-mika