Hospital Certification in Mexico

Hospital Certification in Mexico - Who's in Charge and What is the Purpose.

In Mexico, the certification for hospitals is conducted by the General Health Council (Consejo de Salubridad General), based on international standards approved by the Joint Commission International (JCI, http://www.jointcommissioninternational.org/), which is the world authority on the subject.

The certification of hospitals is not a law, however, promotes benefits to the population.

The Joint Commission International began in 1994 and certifies international processes in hospitals in more than 80 countries, with the aim of improving the safety of patient care.

One of the main objectives of certification is to protect patients from natural risks in hospitals and encourage local medical care to improve the quality of service and to be more competitive, enabling them to attract more customers worldwide and increase profits.

Before the certification program there was a tendency of Mexican hospitals to seek international certifications in the hope of attracting more foreign patients and to improve their income. However, there was no awareness of the natural risks in hospitals and, consequently, patient safety was not being sought, which fortunately changed during the first ten years of the certification program that holds the General Health Council of the Ministry of Health.

In 2008, the full General Health Council approved the proposal to seek approval by the Joint Commission International of the United States, which was achieved at the end of that year with the support of the National Association of Private Hospitals.

That means today's standards used by the General Health Council to assess any hospital in Mexico are already international standards, and secondly the new, modern standards with the safety of patients in mind, has also been incorporated.

Only a handful of hospitals in Mexico, have been able to accomplish the certification process. As a patient, you can verify you have chosen a GHC's, JCI's standards, certified hospital by visiting the following link. Scroll down the list and find your hospital's name. Even though the list is in Spanish, it should not be difficult to spot your hospital.

http://www.csg.gob.mx/descargas/pdfs/certificacion/establecimientos/Hospitales/2015/CertificadoHOSPITALES-Vigente-Enero-2015.pdf