by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The Joint Commission is a non-profit organization which evaluates (by performance based standards) and accredits over 15,000 healthcare organizations in the U.S., including hospitals, home health care, hospice providers, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, laboratories, behavioral health care organizations, health plans and others. The Joint Commission was originally formed in 1951 by the American College of Physicians, the American Hospital Association, and the American Medical Association (AMA), among others. Healthcare organizations accredited by the Joint Commission are deemed to meet Medicare conditions of participation.
The Joint Commission’s website provides a series of Guides with very good introductory information on the types of health care services provided, and a list of questions to ask in selecting a health care provider in each of the following areas in which the Joint Commission is engaged in evaluating and accrediting care provider facilities:
- Ambulatory Care
- Assisted Living
- Behavioral Health Care
- Health Plans
- Home Care & Hospice
- Hospital
- Laboratory Service
- Long Term Care
http://www.jointcommission.org/GeneralPublic/Choices/
