The Joint Commission and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) are teaming up to develop resources for community health centers nationwide.
The groups will develop education, training and advisory services for the over 1,500 community health centers serving 52 million Americans. A new Joint Commission accreditation program will also be created by early next year to ensure that community health centers deliver the highest quality of care.
The partnership is “a strategic investment in high-quality patient care for the communities we serve,” Kyu Rhee, M.D., president and CEO of NACHC, said in an announcement. “By aligning our teams around shared standards and evidence-based practices, we are strengthening the culture of continuous improvement.”
Community health centers offer affordable primary healthcare to all patients, regardless of insurance status. Each year, they serve 2.3 million unhoused individuals and over 642,000 veterans. Millions more of their patients each year are children and seniors. In all, these centers deliver primary care to 14% of the U.S. population for only 1% of total healthcare spending.
Joint Commission already has an active voluntary program to accredit federally qualified health centers, with a focus on patient safety and quality of care. The org also has a rural health clinic accreditation program. "Yesterday’s announcement on CHCs specifically builds on our strategy of further diversifying our commitment to these critically important healthcare organizations and the patients they support," a Joint Commission spokesperson told Fierce Healthcare.
“For Joint Commission, this focus on community health centers is a deliberate and important part of our strategy to diversify the areas of healthcare we support,” Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of Joint Commission, said in a press release. “We respect NACHC’s steadfast commitment to advancing care for all and know they will be a strong partner as we share a common mission.”
Last summer, the Joint Commission unveiled an overhaul of its healthcare accreditation and certification process. The plan was to cut hundreds of hospital requirements, streamline patient safety practices, and give stakeholders and the public a clearer look into what’s expected of an accredited facility.
Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 23,000 healthcare organizations and programs and is the accrediting organization of more than 80% of U.S. hospitals and health systems. It serves the entire continuum of care, also supporting ambulatory care facilities, behavioral healthcare organizations, labs, nursing care facilities, telehealth providers, home healthcare orgs and more.
Editor's Note: This story was updated to include details on when the new accreditation program is expected, what related programs Joint Commission has and a comment from a spokesperson.