Since June, The Joint Commission has announced new certifications for hospitals in three areas: sustainable healthcare, memory care, and healthcare equity.
The latest, its sustainable healthcare certification, was announced Sept. 18. The program will launch in January 2024, according to the organization. It was born out of "requests from healthcare organizations that want to accelerate their sustainable practices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," according to a news release.
In July, The Joint Commission announced a new Memory Care Certification for Assisted Living Communities, launched in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association. Upon its launch, the organization said 50 Alzheimer's living communities across the U.S. had already committed to pursuing the new certification.
Its healthcare equity certification was announced in June to incentivize hospitals nationally to further the National Patient Safety Goals outlined by the Biden administration.
The certifications are all voluntary. Each takes an organization between four and six months to complete, Christina Cordero, PhD, a project director who oversees healthcare quality evaluation at The Joint Commission, told Becker's during a July interview.
Prior to these three, the last certification the organization launched was an Advanced Certification in Perinatal Care in October 2022.