JCI Accreditation marks commitment by QF Entity to high quality patient care and academic medical excellence
Doha, Qatar, 12 February 2020: Sidra Medicine, a member of Qatar Foundation, has been awarded the Joint Commission International’s Gold Seal of Approval® for its hospital and academic medical center. Sidra Medicine was commended for its efforts to become a quality improvement organization, and demonstrating a commitment to patient safety and quality.
Dr. Mark R. Chassin, President and CEO of the Joint Commission; Ms. Paula Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Joint Commission Resources officially presented the JCI Gold Seal of Approval® to Sidra Medicine at a ceremony on 10th February 2020. Mr. Murat Kucukkaya, Managing Director for Joint Commission International, Middle East and Africa was also present.
Dr. Chassin also presented on what it takes to become a High Reliability Organization as part of the next phase after becoming JCI accredited. He highlighted the importance of integrating process improvement measures, governance, financial planning, and quality strategy and priorities effectively.
The ceremonial event was chaired by Mr. Mohammed K. Al Mana, Chair of the Transition Committee and Member of the Board of Governors at Sidra Medicine and Dr. Abdulla Al Kaabi, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Lead for Sidra Medicine’s JCI Accreditation. The event also featured several board members and representatives from partner healthcare organizations including the Ministry of Public Health; Hamad Medical Corporation including its Ambulance service; Primary Health Care Corporation and Aspetar.
The receipt of the JCI accreditation follows a successful survey of the hospital’s facilities, patient-safety processes and as an academic medical center in November 2019. Sidra Medicine has been preparing for JCI accreditation since opening its main hospital in January 2018.
Being JCI accredited means that Sidra Medicine is a hospital that is committed to high-quality care and a culture of safety for patients, visitors and staff as well as offering an established academic program for residents, fellows and students. The accreditation also applies to Sidra Medicine’s research practices particularly within clinical care programs. It highlights that Sidra Medicine’s delivery model of care is based on leading, evidence-based practices.
Dr. Abdulla Al Kaabi, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Lead for Sidra Medicine’s JCI Accreditation at Sidra Medicine said: “This time two years ago, we celebrated the official opening of our main hospital with the world. And now we have cause to celebrate another important milestone, receiving the academic accreditation from JCI. It is a particularly significant achievement for a Greenfield hospital like ours to meet the highest standards of safe clinical care, research practices and medical education, within two years of becoming fully operational. The JCI accreditation is a testament of our commitment to delivering high quality care, putting our patient’s safety first as well as advancing medical education.”
At the ceremony, Dr. Abdulla added: “This award doesn’t belong to a single person or a single team. It belongs to all of us, because we all had a part to play in achieving this accreditation. Qatar will be proud of many institutions it has built to empower its people. The prosperity of a country relies on the good health of its people. I have no doubt in my mind that Sidra Medicine will be recognized as one of those institutions.”
Performed by an interdisciplinary clinical team of five JCI surveyors, the evaluation at Sidra Medicine in November 2019 covered in-depth assessments across all areas to ensure the hospital’s compliance regarding the safety and quality of its medical treatment, as well as the environment in which treatment was performed. The evaluation also covered Sidra Medicine’s research facilities, publications as well as its medical education strategy and processes among others.
Sidra Medicine was commended on the state of its facilities, the knowledge and dedication of its multi-disciplinary and diverse teams. Its clinical programs, such as the perinatal mental health services, Neonatal Pediatric Intensive Care (NICU), radiology, pharmacy and laboratory services and processes were also commended. The processes and experience of the hospital’s Infection Control team was applauded as outstanding by the surveyors in addition to the organization’s commitment to continuous quality improvement to ensuring it delivers safe patient care.
Mr. Mohammed K. Al Mana, Chair of the Transition Committee and Member of the Board at Sidra Medicine said: “On behalf of the management at Sidra Medicine, I would like to thank all of our staff who have rigorously worked towards Sidra Medicine achieving this milestone. Receiving the gold seal is an affirmation of our dedication to continuous improvement towards safety for patients and families in Qatar as well as building on our research activities and academic programs for healthcare professionals,”
“We are excited to embark on the next phase of this journey towards service excellence as we aim to become a High Reliability Organization. In a healthcare environment, there is a greater need to become a High Reliability Organization where an institution goes beyond the regular state of safety. It creates an environment that encourages activities that investigate and anticipates future safety issues,” continued Mr. Al-Mana.
Joint Commission International accreditation provides academic medical center hospitals with the processes contributing to improvements in a variety of areas from the enhancement of staff education to the demonstration of leading practices within the academic medical center setting.
JCI standards work to promote the improvement of patient safety and quality of health care internationally. The requirements support an organization to achieve the highest international benchmarks for patient safety whilst its processes set uniform expectations for structure, process and outcomes for health care organizations. Primarily the JCI process focuses on the quality and safety of a patient journey and in so doing, evaluates the quality and safety of processes in place across the entire organization.
JCI works closely with the international community by offering education, publications, advisory services, and international accreditation and certification. JCI promotes rigorous standards of care and is the recognized leader in international healthcare accreditation in more than 100 countries.
For more details about Sidra Medicine please visit www.sidra.org.
Read the Arabic press release here.
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