Joint Commission International Launches Center of Excellence Certification to Address Market Gap, Signal to Patients Clinical Service-Line Distinction

Joint Commission International (JCI) announced its Center of Excellence (COE) Certification, a first-of-its-kind globally credible program that provides a comprehensive, independently validated framework to define and recognize clinical service-line excellence. Achieving this certification from JCI signals to patients and families that an organization demonstrates what it truly means to be experts in providing the specialized, high-quality, safe care that so many lives depend on.

At launch, the certification is available for five clinical service lines, reflecting areas of strong global interest among healthcare organizations, including: pediatrics, oncology, trauma, orthopedics, and maternal-perinatal care. JCI will continue to expand the COE certification portfolio to include additional clinical specialties as regional and national programs grow and individual organization needs evolve globally.

“The term ‘Center of Excellence’ is widely used in healthcare, but often without a consistent or objective basis for how it is defined or evaluated,” said Joint Commission said Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO, Joint Commission. “Any hospital can simply call itself a Center of Excellence – and many do – but the new JCI Center of Excellence Certification fills that gap by providing a transparent and internationally recognized approach for healthcare organizations to define and measure clinical excellence.”

“Our COE program shows patients, their loved ones, health authorities, and other stakeholders that these organizations chose to commit, invest, and be held accountable for excellence. It’s a step above – it’s about signaling both capability and commitment,” added executive vice president and COO, Jim Merlino, MD.

The unique aspect of the COE program is that it meets healthcare organizations where they are in their quality and patient safety journey, without requiring JCI accreditation as a prerequisite. This flexibility enables organizations that are not yet accredited to begin demonstrating their commitment to excellence at the service line level, starting in areas where they already have strength. At the same time, for organizations that are JCI accredited, COE Certification represents a “next level” recognition of performance within a clinical specialty, strengthening consistency, measurement, and performance. The program reinforces key capabilities aligned with accreditation, such as standardized performance measures and structured processes for care delivery, while applying them in a more focused, service-line context. In doing so, COE helps organizations build confidence and momentum to expand excellence within a service line and progress toward broader organizational goals.

For international health authorities, JCI’s COE Certification provides a credible, standardized framework that helps validate excellence in specific clinical areas. Many health authorities have their own Center of Excellence programs, and JCI’s approach is designed to complement these efforts with an internationally recognized benchmark for performance.

The COE framework integrates evidence-informed standards, internationally recognized clinical practice guidelines, and standardized measurement. Certification is not a one-time achievement; organizations are expected to demonstrate sustained performance and ongoing improvement during annual performance reviews each year, ultimately enabling them to strengthen quality of care and safety over time for patients and families who require specialized care.

Healthcare organizations that provide acute patient care outside of the United States can apply for JCI Center of Excellence Certification today. For more information and eligibility criteria, visit https://www.jointcommission.org/en/certification/center-of-excellence