Sharing Singapore's experience: The Joint Commission International accreditation of a psychiatric hospital

The United States (US) has successful accreditation systems for their healthcare facilities and this perception continues to grow globally. As one would assume, worldwide standards of assessment are not the same as standards for facilities within the US. Joint Commission International (JCI) has a comparable but different set of standards that have been developed to incorporate unique economic, social, and cultural differences. Presently, the JCI standards for international psychiatric facilities are the same as the standards set for international hospitals. Institute of Mental Health, an acute tertiary psychiatric hospital in Singapore, has received JCI hospital accreditation consecutively since 2005. ‘Medication Management and Use’ is an important component of the survey process. Product selection, storage, administration and monitoring of medication effects are complex and require expertise to achieve high levels of patient safety. Certain standards and processes that are implemented, measured and undertaken by the pharmacy department are addressed. The benefits of a JCI accreditation are countless for the organization involved. Considered as the international gold standard for hospitals, successive JCI accreditations illustrate that a healthcare organization is committed to improving safety and quality of patient care by continually striving to reduce risks.