Joint Commission International has launched a Center of Excellence Certification, which is designed to give international healthcare organizations an independently validated way to demonstrate expertise in specific clinical service lines.
The certification is available at launch for five service lines: pediatrics, oncology, trauma, orthopedics and maternal-perinatal care. The commission said it plans to expand the program to additional specialties as regional and national needs evolve.
Unlike the organization’s broader hospital accreditation, the certification does not require an organization to already have Joint Commission accreditation. That allows organizations earlier in their quality journey to pursue recognition in a service line where they already have strength, while accredited organizations can use the certification as an added layer of recognition within a specialty, according to a commission news release.
“The term ‘Center of Excellence’ is widely used in healthcare, but often without a consistent or objective basis for how it is defined or evaluated,” said Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Joint Commission. “Any hospital can simply call itself a Center of Excellence — and many do — but the new JCI Center of Excellence Certification fills that gap.”
Organizations must undergo annual performance reviews to demonstrate sustained performance and keep the designation. Healthcare organizations providing acute patient care outside the U.S. can apply now.
For U.S. health system leaders, the certification could serve as a due-diligence signal when evaluating international affiliates or referral partners, particularly for systems weighing global expansion or complex-care referral relationships in service lines such as oncology or maternal-perinatal care.
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