to main content Excellent Health Outcomes for All | The Joint Commission

Our vision is that all people always experience safe, high-quality health care.

Today however, health care quality and health outcomes are often worse for certain groups of people, including the elderly, people living in rural communities, Veterans, pregnant women, people with disabilities, certain racial and ethnic groups, those living in poverty, people with lower educational attainment, and others that may face barriers to high quality care. Some groups of people may require different approaches to care delivery due to clinical or social issues.

Enable

Accreditation standards help your team focus on the unique needs of your patient population.

View accreditation standards

Empower

Access to curated resources aligned with standards will equip your team with tools and strategies to achieve optimal outcomes.
Accreditation Resource Center

Elevate

Discover resources ranging from toolkits, templates, guides and more to help learn strategies on how to successfully achieve Health Care Equity Certification.
Certification Resource Center
,,Every patient deserves the right to safe, high quality health care. All health care organizations have a responsibility to identify the unique needs of their patient population in order to provide optimal care.,,

Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D. - President and CEO - The Joint Commission

Impact of Differences in Health Care Outcomes

Even today, economic, social, and other differences continue to create barriers to accessing high-quality health care. These statistics tell a powerful story. Working side by side, we can write a new chapter.
4x

Maternal mortality rate for Black women is 4x higher than that for non-Hispanic White women

56%

of women receive treatment for hypertension compared to 46.7% of men

20000

deaths from heart disease and stroke in rural America in 2022 related to environmental, economic, and social factors were potentially preventable

30%

Diabetes rates are more than 30 percent higher among Native Americans and Latinos than among Whites

Source: CDC

To help organizations achieve optimal outcomes for all patient groups, The Joint Commission offers a voluntary advanced certification that provides the structure and framework to bridge the gaps in all aspects of care, treatment, and health care delivery. Along with providing the structure to better care, the certification can also help standardize key processes to reaching organizational goals. Achieving the certification may also help differentiate your organization to payers, employers, and government agencies.

Learn more about this certification opportunity

Health care organizations that prioritize the importance of health care equity and are working to raise the quality of health care among underserved populations and communities, deserve to be recognized. The Joint Commission teamed up with Kaiser Permanente to honor Bernard J. Tyson, Kaiser’s late chairman and chief executive officer, who worked hard to address disparities in the U.S. health care system. The two organizations established The Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity.