The Joint Commission Background

The Joint Commission's origins go back to the year 1910 when physician Ernest Codman proposed an "end result system of hospital standardization." Codman proposed that hospitals track patients to determine if treatment was effective. If not, steps could be taken to insure that similar patients in the future receive improved treatment. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) was founded in 1913 with Dr. Codman's system as one of their objectives. In 1918, the ACS began a process of voluntary hospital, on-site inspections.

The survey process grew over the next thirty years. In 1951, several organizations, including the American Hospital Association, joined with the ACS to create the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) as a non-profit organization. The next year, they published the Standards for Hospital Accreditation and began conducting surveys.

In 1965, Congress passed the Social Security Amendments of 1965. One of the provisions of this landmark act was to grant "deemed status" to The Joint Commission. Hospitals that were accredited by JCAH were "deemed" to be in compliance with most of the Medicare Conditions of Participation. This allowed hospitals to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In later years, JCAH became JCAHO, The Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. In 2007, the name was changed again to simply the Joint Commission.

Throughout 2009, the Joint Commission transitioned to have their deeming authority for accrediting hospitals granted by CMS. On November 30, 2009, the Joint Commission announced that CMS approved continuation of deeming authority through July 15, 2014. Hospitals accredited by The Joint Commission prior to and after November 30, 2009, are deemed to be in compliance with the CMS Conditions of Participation and will be eligible to receive reimbursement from CMS.

The Joint Commission provides accreditation, including deemed status accreditation for several other types of health care organizations in addition to hospitals. Click here to view additional information regarding the types of Joint Commission accreditation on the Joint Commission website.