Asian Heart Institute Gets Highest Medical Accreditation: JCI
In a resounding testimony to its commitment to quality medical delivery in cardiac care and rehabilitation; Asian Heart Institute has received whats globally considered to be the most prestigious certification in the world; the Joint Commission International Accreditation(JCI)
Tweet-- The purpose of JCI accreditation is to offer the international community standards-based, objective processes for evaluating health care organizations the goal of the program is to stimulate demonstrations of continuous, sustained improvement in health care organizations by applying international consensus standards, International patient safety goals, and indicator measurement support.
Asian Heart institute is the only cardiac hospital in India to get JCI accredited in October 2006 and re-accreditation through re-assessment in November 2009. Post the PM's surgery shot Dr.Ramakanta Panda into global limelight; the JCI comes as further validation of AHI's internationally relevant imagery as India's best cardiac hospital.
There are more than 250 hospitals accredited with JCI across the world and almost 15 Indian hospitals are accredited with them.
JCI accreditation can help international health care organizations, public health agencies, health ministries and others to evaluate, improve and demonstrate the quality of patient care in their nations while accommodating any specific legal, religious and cultural factors within a country. The survey process takes into account the laws and regulations under which a hospital operates and provided patient care in one of two ways.
1. If a relevant law and / or regulation set a less stringent expectation than the accreditation standard, then the expectation of the accreditation standard is surveyed and scored.
2. If, on the other hand, the law and / or regulation set a more stringent expectation than the accreditation standard, then the survey team will expect to find the hospital is in compliance with the relevant law and / or regulation.
Benefits of accreditation:
The accreditation process is designed to create a culture of safety and quality within an organization that strives to continually improve patient care processes and results.
1. The organization builds public trust for patient safety and the quality of care;
2. provides a safe and efficient work environment;
3. involve the patients and their families in the care process and respect their rights;
4. timely reporting of adverse events and safety concerns; and
5. establishes collaborative leadership that sets priorities for and continuous leadership for quality and patient safety at all levels.
The survey process includes:
- Patient safety
- Prevention and control of infections
- Medication management
- Facility management and safety
- Governance, Leadership and Education
This is done through:
- tracer studies;
- interviews with staff and patients and other verbal information;
- on-site observations of patient care processes by the surveyors;
- compliance to policies and procedures set up by the organization;
- compliance to standards set up by the JCI; and
- results of quality improvement and patient safety measures.
Notes to Editor
Asian Heart Institute (AHI) has been set up with an aim to provide world-class cardiac care in India. It is situated at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), a mere 15-minute drive from the domestic and international airports. The hospital promises to provide quality cardiac care to patients at reasonable costs.
A dream of leading cardiac specialists of Mumbai, Dr. Ramakanta Panda, Dr. Sudhir Vaishnav, and Dr. Tilak Suvarna, AHI was set up with a holistic approach to heart care based on ethics, quality care and professional backed by competitive prices. It prides itself on quality in terms of design, patient care, medical, paramedical and general staff and infrastructure facilities.
The hospital has a Patient-centric design with stress on safety and comfort of Patients. All Patient areas have been designed to minimize the risk of infection. Internationally accredited with ISO 9001:2000, JCI & NIAHO, AHI reaffirms its commitment towards world class cardiac care by being the highest accredited hospital in India.
The hospital was started to set a benchmark in quality care, ethical practice, reasonable costs and training for those in the profession. Patients are not charged premium rates for the care they receive. In fact, the charges are reasonable and probably even 10-15 per cent cheaper compared to other hospitals.