From initial diagnosis and the development of a treatment plan to medical interventions and record keeping, every part of the healthcare industry operates under standardized guidelines, regulations and best practices. These are outlined by various medical associations, governing bodies and national as well as state-level laws.
Major responsibilities for the management and administration of hospitals include attaining consistently high levels of quality, maintaining efficient processes and ensuring that day-to-day operations are conducted effectively.
ISO Standards and Healthcare
If you’re a healthcare provider or manage a medical facility, there are several ISO certifications that can prove highly valuable to you. These include:
- ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System
- ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management
- ISO 50001:2018 Energy Management
- ISO 45001:2018 Health and Safety
- ISO 13485:2016 Medical Devices
While each of them has their own benefits, we’ll now take a closer look at the advantages of ISO 9001.
ISO 9001 for Healthcare
The ISO 9001:2015 standard offers clear, unequivocal requirements for an effective quality management system. Better controls on quality management can considerably increase your ability to provide the best possible care to your patients.
The Advantages of ISO 9001 Certified Healthcare
Earning an ISO 9001 certification has the following benefits for healthcare providers:
Internal Audits
ISO 9001 requires organizations to regularly conduct internal audits and assess the effectiveness of their systems, updating them as necessary.
This keeps your hospital or clinic abreast with the latest medical techniques and technologies.
Continuous Improvements
To retain its certification, your healthcare facility will need to ensure compliance and prove its ability to continue offering high-quality patient care while adhering to rigorous standards.
External audits will assess this ability, ensuring that you’re constantly pursuing improvement in all areas.
Corrective Actions
Prevention might be better than cure, but ISO 9001 emphasizes the cure too. Despite the most stringent protocols, mistakes can happen at any time. The ISO 9001 standard requires the development of methods to correct mistakes and systems to ensure that they don’t reoccur.
This turns mistakes into learning opportunities and drivers of growth.
Prioritizing Patient Feedback
The implementation of ISO 9001 means that your patients can play an active role in informing and enhancing your processes. When you combine your knowledge and expertise with feedback obtained from patients, it results in a system that actively evolves based on input from those it directly affects.
Supplier Controls
ISO 9001:2015 has thorough guidelines in place to improve supplier management. These guidelines apply to all suppliers that influence how you treat or look after your patients. It makes you responsible for monitoring and continually evaluating your suppliers for sustainability, quality and adherence to commercial standards.
These monitoring and evaluation processes also have to be audited, which ensures transparency, accountability and patient safety.
As one of the leading ISO 9001 consulting companies in America, our team of expert ISO certification consultants has helped healthcare facilities from all over the country successfully receive and retain ISO certifications. Our ISO consulting service bring guaranteed results.
Looking to hire ISO consultant? Get in touch with us today!