Approved: New Program Name—Clinical Care Program Certification


The Joint Commission Resources Board of Commissioners has approved the change of Joint Commission International’s (JCI’s) program-specific certification initiative from Disease- or Condition-Specific Care Certification (DCSC) to Clinical Care Program Certification (CCPC). JCI’s CCPC program is designed to evaluate disease management and condition-specific care programs that are provided by hospitals and other care delivery settings. The new program name is effective immediately and is used on the cover and throughout the new CCPC certification manual, which will publish 1 January 2010 and is effective 1 July 2010.  A CCPC survey process guide will be published in 2010.

CCPC certification will be available for these fifteen categories of clinical care programs:
   ► Heart failure
   ► Acute myocardial infarction
   ► Primary stroke
   ► Diabetes mellitus (type 1) and/or diabetes mellitus (type 2)
   ► Chronic kidney disease (stages 1 to 4)
   ► End-stage renal disease 
   ► Palliative care (all types)
   ► Traumatic brain injury
   ► HIV/AIDS management
   ► Cancer (all types)
   ► Pain management
   ► Asthma
   ► Joint replacement (all types)
   ► Transplantation (all types)
   ► Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

In addition, JCI now requires that the applicant program
   ► be within a JCI–accredited organization;
   ► be within a JCI–accredited parent network organization; or 
   ► complete an internet-based assessment that will inform JCI about the level of quality and patient safety present in the
       host organization.

The evaluation process of the CCPC programs and resulting certification decision are based on an assessment of the following:
   ► Compliance with consensus-based international standards
   ► Effective use of established clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care
   ► An organized approach to performance measurement and improvement activities

One other change in the CCPC program is a new benchmarking opportunity. JCI will soon specify some of the required performance measures for each of the 15 categories of eligible programs. The collection of standardized measures will increase benchmarking opportunities with other JCI–certified program as well as promote the value of the specific program.

Updated information regarding the CCPC program changes and all JCI accreditation and certification activities is available on the JCI Web site. For further information, please contact Siew Lee Cheng, JCI’s associate director, International Accreditation.