The Medical City Secures Fifth JCI Accreditation

The Medical City (TMC), under the leadership of its new President and CEO Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos, recently received a Gold Seal of Approval from Joint Commission International (JCI), the world’s premier healthcare quality improvement and accreditation body.

This is the fifth straight accreditation of TMC, and the first one obtained under the watch of    Dr. Ramos. TMC’s Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) Program also retained its status as the only program of its kind with a Gold Seal of Approval in the Philippines, and one of only 16 around the world.

AMI is the medical term for heart attack, and TMC’s program targets a 90 minute Door-to-Balloon time. This means that a heart attack patient who walks through the doors of the hospital’s Emergency Department should have the blocked coronary artery opened in the Catheterization Laboratory within 90 minutes. TMC received its first certification from JCI for its AMI program in 2015.

Dr. Ramos paid tribute to the work put in by all the members of TMC. “I am proud of how everyone at TMC has worked together as a team to achieve our highest ever score for compliance. The partnership between our doctors and our medical support staff was inspiring to see, and demonstrates the new spirit of open collaboration that is taking hold in our institution,” said Dr. Ramos.

TMC underwent a rigorous on-site survey between October 8 and October 12, 2018. During the survey, a team of JCI expert surveyors evaluated compliance with hospital standards related to a variety of areas, including the International Patient Safety Goals, patient assessment and care, anesthesia and surgical care, medication management, patient and family education, quality improvement, infection prevention and control, governance and leadership, facility management, staff qualifications and education, and information management.

The health institution received perfect scores in critical standards on Patient and Family Rights (PFR), Patient and Family Education (PFE), Access to Care and Continuity of Care (ACC), and Assessment of Patients (AOP).

TMC was first accredited by JCI in 2006 and again in 2009, 2012, and 2015. JCI’s hospital standards are developed in consultation with worldwide health care experts and providers, measurement experts, and patients. The standards are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help organizations measure, assess and improve performance.

On October 15 and 16, a JCI surveyor conducted the on-site inspection and Clinical Care Program re-certification survey for the AMI program according to the international medical guidelines and JCI standards.