ISO

----ISO is a set of internationally-applicable technical standards, and it plays no role in assessing if a particular hospital's clinical (ie. medical) activities are adequate, only if the buildings and systems are up to scratch.

----When a hospital gets ISO certified, the processes are supposedly under control, which yields 15-20 per cent benefit. The next step, the critical one is continual improvement.

"Why did one hospital pursue certification to ISO 9001:2000?"

+++ One hospital was looking to enhance its healthcare quality management system. What makes ISO unique is that it relies on the individual organization to establish, document, implement and maintain a quality management system and continually improve its effectiveness. ISO assists the organization in designing and ensuring its documented processes are effective and support its mission.

"Benefits of ISO 9001:2000 as the framework for managing all Healthcare Quality Certifications"

+++ ISO 9001:2000 offers a means for evaluating processes at an organizational level. It also enables the organization to define organization specific goals and methods for quality management. Finally, ISO 9001:2000 offers a monitoring or audit system for maintaining the healthcare quality management system.

Benefits of ISO 9001:2000 as a Quality Management System

+++ If a healthcare provider is certified to ISO 9001, any other survey process for healthcare quality certifications will be much simpler and less costly regarding both preparation and compliance demonstration

>Systemic breakdowns are recognized and addressed

>Development of “Best practice” hospital-wide processes, with reference to supporting documentation

>Ensures conformance to and effectiveness of documented processes

>Focuses on Patient Care, Satisfaction, and Safety

>Reduce errors associated with ”hand-offs”

>Improve documentation and records

>Improve employees’ understanding of roles and responsibilities within the healthcare quality management system

>Strengthen customer/community confidence and relationships

>Alignment of Hospital-wide, Departments, Individual objectives

>Foundation for on-going improvement initiatives