Joint Commission - History

History

The Joint Commission's predecessor organization was an outgrowth of the efforts of Ernest Codman to promote hospital reform based on outcomes management in patient care. Codman’s efforts led to the founding of the American College of Surgeons Hospital Standardization Program. In 1951, a new entity, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals was created by merging the Hospital Standardization Program with similar programs run by the American College of Physicians, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the Canadian Medical Association. In 1987, the company was renamed the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO, pronounced "Jay-co"). In 2007, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations underwent a major rebranding and simplified its name to The Joint Commission. The rebranding included the name, logo, and tag line change to "Helping Health Care Organizations Help Patients."

The name change was part of an overall effort to make the name easier to remember and to position the commission to continue to be responsive to the needs of organizations seeking fee-based accreditation. The Joint Commission advocates the use of patient safety measures, the spread of information, the measurement of performance, and the introduction of public policy recommendations.

Joint Commission International (JCI) was established in 1997 as a division of Joint Commission Resources, Inc. (JCR), a private, not-for-profit affiliate of The Joint Commission. Through international accreditation, consultation, publications and education programs, JCI extends The Joint Commission's mission worldwide by helping to improve the quality of patient care by assisting international health care organizations, public health agencies, health ministries and others evaluate, improve and demonstrate the quality of patient care and enhance patient safety in more than 60 countries. International hospitals may seek accreditation to demonstrate quality, and JCI accreditation may be considered a seal of approval by medical travelers from the U.S.