UAE Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital (SKSH) run by SNUH obtains JCI accreditation
UAE Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital (SKSH) run by SNUH obtains JCI accreditation
- SNUH scored 99% or above in all items.
- An excellent system of the new hospital consisting of multinational workforce in 29 countries was admired by evaluators.
- Medical professionals with experienced in accreditation process in Korea took a lead in building a great organizational culture.
The UAE Sheikh Khalifa Speciality Hospital (SKSH) (CEO Myung-whun Sung) run by Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) obtained the JCI (Joint Commission International) accreditation in two years after its opening.
SKSH was examined by the JCI screening panel consisting of three health care experts including a doctor, nurse, and administrator for five days from November 13 to 17 last year, and officially granted accreditation by scoring 99.14% in 1,148 items. JCI accreditation is granted only when more than 90% is scored in all items of evaluating potential risks that may pose to patients in the candidate hospital.
The JCI announced in its official letter, "SKSH scored perfect 100% in five items such as patient safety goals, patient assessment, patient and family rights, and patient and family education) and other items were also assessed as partially insufficient rather than insufficient." "An excellent system of the new hospital consisting of multinational workforce in 29 countries was also impressive."
Korea has a national accreditation system for medical institutions, but there is no such system in the Middle East including the UAE. For this reason, SKSH has tried to put a hospital operation system in place with the aim of obtaining the JCI accreditation in two years after opening.
The hospital has developed regulations and guidelines that meet the JCI standards even from a preparation step for establishment and created a item-specific task force with the JCIA Committee in May 2015.
In particular, special efforts were made to educate on and monitor patient safety in order to satisfy the international patient safety goals (identify patients correctly, improve effective communication, improve the safety of high-alert medications, ensure correct-site, correct-procedure, correct-patient surgery, reduce the risk of health care-associated infections, and reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls) which were often pointed out during the JCI screening. As a result, SKSH was officially recognized as the hospital ensuring a flawless patient safety system by scoring perfect 100%.
The reason why SKSH could obtain the JCI accreditation with such excellent scores in a short period of time is that the hospital has built its competence through hands-on experience in passing a strict accreditation process in Korea.
In the beginning, employees experienced communication difficulties due to different languages and different cultural backgrounds. However, as Korean employees showed sincerity and commitment first and tried to lead by example, SKSH workforce of all nationalities could finally cooperate in harmony around the time when they were up for JCI screening. Especially during the screening period, around 400 employees shared the screening panel's movements and opinions through a mobile messenger.
SKSH CEO Myung-whun Sung said, "Since JCI accreditation was a gateway to international recognition for Korea's hospital operation system, we made a concerted effort to passing the screening with great results." "As I've witnessed positive changes during the preparation period such as building a culture of patient safety and effective communication among the staff, I was impressed again by Koreans' strong willpower."
SKSH located in Ras Al Khaimah of the UAE is a tertiary medical center with 246 beds and offering services in various specialities ranging from cancer, brain nerves, and cardiovascular disorders. There are total of 850 employees including around 250 medical professionals dispatched from SNUH.