SZ releases China's 1st international hospital accreditation standards

Writer: Zhang Yu  |  Editor: Zhang Chanwen  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2022-09-23

Chinese citizens and foreigners who have purchased international commercial insurance are expected to directly get health care coverage and see doctors in hospitals accredited by Shenzhen’s international hospital accreditation standards.

The standards are the first internationally certified hospital accreditation standards in China, and will be promoted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and across the country, according to a press conference held by the Shenzhen Municipal Government on Thursday.

The International Hospital Quality Accreditation Standards (2021 Version), compiled by the Shenzhen Hospital Accreditation Research Center, received high scores in the authoritative certification from the International Society for Quality in Health Care External Evaluation Association (ISQua EEA) in February this year.

The standards’ launch will be beneficial for Chinese high-level medical institutions to align with international standards, especially to directly obtain recognition from international commercial insurers.

According to the city’s health commission, many domestic medical institutions often need to negotiate and sign contracts with international insurers one by one in order to obtain their recognition.

Meanwhile, many domestic hospitals have taken the initiative to get accredited by international health care assessment and accreditation providers such as JCI (Joint Commission International) and ACHS (Australian Council on Healthcare Standards). As of July 2018, 100 hospitals on the Chinese mainland, including 49 public hospitals, had received JCI accreditation.

Shenzhen’s international hospital accreditation standards have been well received by some hospitals, the commission said.

Four local public hospitals, namely Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH), Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, and the People’s Hospital of Longhua, Shenzhen, have been the first to begin the accreditation process.

Xu Xiaoping, president of the Shenzhen Hospital Accreditation Research Center, said that the international hospital accreditation standards represent an upgrade in Chinese top-rated hospital standards and alignment with international standards.

The compilation of the standards was inspired by the observation of Hong Kong experts at HKU-SZH, who found that the domestic standards for top-rated Chinese hospitals are meticulous and rigorous in terms of medical quality and safety requirements, and can earn global recognition by integrating some excellent foreign practices.

The standards, covering three chapters, have 186 evaluation items in total. The evaluation results of each item are divided into five grades, which are reviewed every four years.