About the Joint Commission

The Joint Commission was established in the United States as a non-profit agency in 1951, under the name Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH), and in 1953 it published the first standards for hospital accreditation. Today, certification by the Joint Commission is a key requirement for all the best healthcare organisations in the United States. The experience of “accreditation for excellence" developed in the United States hinges essentially on a system that aims to provide healthcare organisations with assessment guidelines on the quality of patient care. For more information: http://www.jcrinc.com/

How the Survey is Conducted

Each healthcare organisation is evaluated based on parameters described in the Joint Commission International Accreditation Manual, which lists 354 standards, 170 of which are classified as “bold”, meaning that they are indispensable for obtaining accreditation. Within each standard, there are various requisites that must be met, for a total of 994 requisites. The team of consultants (Survey Team) that visits the organisation is always composed of three experts with experience and skills in clinical practice as well as the area of medical, nursing and administrative management. At the end of the survey, the JCI Team verifies that all 170 standards classified as “bold” are met, draws up the overall score and issues its three-year accreditation. During this three-year period, checks are performed to guarantee that the requisites continue to be met.

The Partners of the European Institute of Oncology

In addition to the extremely high score that IEO was given during the survey – 986 out of 994 requisites were met – the Joint Commission also added the following note of praise in its final report:

Exemplary Performance Areas:

• A commendable concern for the patient’s quality of life
• Emphasis on excellence of clinical care
• Commitment to continuous improvement
• Understanding that the purpose of research is to improve patient care