Advocate Health, a prominent integrated health system based in Charlotte, N.C., is embarking on a trailblazing mission aimed at acquiring systemwide hospital accreditation via The Joint Commission. As encapsulated in a May 27 press statement released by the Commission, this step is expected to facilitate inter-hospital benchmarking, both within the Advocate Health system and comparatively with other hospitals that share a similar geographical profile.
This progressive move emphasizes Advocate Health’s status as one of the United States’ largest nonprofit integrated health systems and its commitment to upholding quality control across all of its facilities. This ambitious initiative sets a new benchmark in the healthcare industry, promising unprecedented levels of consistent, high-quality care across every single one of its 69 hospitals — reaffirming Advocate Health’s long-standing reputation for excellence.
Indeed, the institution of a systemwide hospital accreditation demonstrates a trailblazing response to the ongoing quest for excellence in infection prevention and healthcare provision. Importantly, this process enables an improved understanding and tackling of varying infection rates across different facilities. Further, the achievement of this comprehensive accreditation will enable the comparison of standard infection rates within Advocate Health’s vast network, and aid in pinpointing key areas for improvement, all while learning from other accredited hospitals.
Moreover, while the broader effects of this systemwide accreditation will be felt keenly across various healthcare aspects, its relevance to the field of infection prevention is particularly noteworthy. Beyond augmenting hospitals’ capacity to establish internal benchmarks, this development shines the light on the integral role that accreditation plays in promoting infection prevention best practices. It underscores the value in having critical processes and standards in place to ensure patient safety – a component that is fundamental not only to an individual hospital’s operation but to the larger clinical landscape.
By launching this notable initiative, Advocate Health is positioned at the forefront of not just the enhancement of patient care, but also the development of improved methods and strategies for infection prevention across the industry.