Joint Commission International launches Telehealth Certification
Media Contact
Maureen LyonsCorporate Communications
(630) 792-5171
(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Illinois, USA, 6 January 2023) – Joint Commission International (JCI) today announced the JCI Telehealth Certification Program, an additional recognition for JCI-accredited organizations that provide telehealth services following a thorough evaluation of its policies, procedures and implementation of telehealth technologies to deliver patient care.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telehealth services increased substantially in many countries and remains a key modality of care. While telehealth has the potential to improve patients’ access to care and help them maintain regular contact with their providers, it requires standardization to ensure safe and quality care.
To achieve JCI Telehealth Certification, organizations must demonstrate a culture of continuous improvement through standardized practices and processes while ensuring better coordination, communication and alignment when patient care is being provided via telehealth. The certification program has its own standards and requirements that focus on patient-centered care and organization management.
“Joint Commission International is pleased to offer the new JCI Telehealth Certification Program to all JCI-accredited healthcare organizations – enabling them to continue to excel and ensure patient safety when care is rendered via telehealth,” says Joel Roos, MD, MBA, MHCDS, CPE, vice president of International Accreditation, Quality Improvement and Safety, JCI. “As patients continue to use telehealth services, it is important that safe and quality care is delivered virtually through the implementation of the certification program’s evidence-based standards that are unique to telehealth services.”
Eligibility for JCI Telehealth Certification requires healthcare organizations to be located outside of the United States and its territories. Organizations seeking this certification must already be accredited by JCI or be accredited at the same time of the JCI Telehealth Certification survey. Additionally, organizations must do one of the following:
- Provide asynchronous (non-real-time interactions) and synchronous (real-time interactions) care.
- Conduct remote patient monitoring consisting of transmitting and storing patient data and clinical measurements from in-home or in-unit devices to patient portals or electronic health records.
- Offer mobile health (mHealth), an evolving area in which digital applications on smartphones can support patients between provider visits.
- Store detailed instructions or education materials, if licensed to provide care and treatment as a telehealth organization.
To learn more about JCI Telehealth Certification, please visit the JCI website.
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About Joint Commission International
Joint Commission International (JCI) was established in 1994 as a division of Joint Commission Resources, Inc. (JCR), a wholly controlled, nonprofit affiliate of The Joint Commission. Through international accreditation and certification, advisory services, publications and education programs, JCI extends The Joint Commission’s mission worldwide by helping improve the quality of patient care. JCI works with international healthcare organizations, public health agencies, health ministries and others in more than 70 countries. Visit www.jointcommissioninternational.org for more information.