Flagstaff Medical Center and Verde Valley Medical Center received ISO 9001:2008 certification by DNV, the only accreditor of U.S. hospitals that integrates ISO 9001 quality compliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation.
Created by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO 9001 is a quality management system recognized by businesses around the world – including hospitals and healthcare providers – as the benchmark for continual quality improvement. The ISO 9001:2008 standards place significant emphasis on proper documentation of all processes within a hospital to ensure staff is consistently delivering care in the safest and most effective way. While other certifications mandate specific yet static criteria for participation, ISO 9001:2008 requires hospitals to continually monitor processes that result in ongoing improvements.
FMC and VVMC first received accreditation from DNV in 2011; however, the hospitals chose to pursue ISO 9001:2008 certification, a more rigorous yearly quality assurance process than accreditation alone. To receive certification, the hospitals underwent an intense on-site evaluation in the spring of 2014 in which they had to demonstrate quality in a number of areas including, but not limited to, inpatient care, outpatient care, administering of medications, food service, operating and administrative procedures, medical equipment and supplies and infection control. To maintain their certification, each year FMC and VVMC will undergo a similar review by DNV to demonstrate compliance.
“Every patient expects quality care when they walk into a hospital,” said Mark Carroll, M.D., Flagstaff Medical Center chief medical officer. “FMC and VVMC chose to pursue this more rigorous certification process to ensure we are not only meeting our patients’ expectations, but we are exceeding them.” FBN