The Joint Commission to develop hospital standards for culturally competent patient-centered care – September 2008

A new grant from The Commonwealth Fund will be used by The Joint Commission to revise and develop accreditation standards for culturally competent patient-centered care in hospitals across America. This standards development initiative builds upon The Joint Commission’s ongoing “Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation” study that examines how hospitals in the United States respond to the diverse cultural and language needs of their patients. The Institute of Medicine’s “Crossing the Quality Chasm” report identified patient-centered and equitable care as important elements of quality. However, The Joint Commission study found that practices used to promote effective communication and cultural competence – critical elements of patient-centered and equitable care – vary widely from hospital to hospital. The Joint Commission initiative will explore how diversity, culture, language, and health literacy issues can be better incorporated into current Joint Commission standards or drafted into new requirements. The standards development process will, as is customary, include a review by interested parties in health care and the public. The Joint Commission will collaborate with The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) to develop an implementation guide to prepare Joint Commission surveyors and accredited hospitals for the release of these new standards, targeted to take effect in 2011.

To access The Joint Commission’s Health care Self Assessment Tool click here.

Organizational Assessment Services : GCI can assist in evaluating your organization’s policies, processes and systems in developing a supportive infrastructure for Cultural Competence.

Cultural Competence Training/Workshop for Health care Practitioners : GCI can provide on-site/ off-site Awareness training highlighting both the differences and similarities between the North American, Asian, Latin American, European and Middle Eastern business and social cultures.

The training/workshop will be presented in an organizing framework to guide cultural competence among multidisciplinary members of the health-care team in a variety of primary, secondary and tertiary settings.

To contact us regarding your industry specific cultural competence services, please click here.