Strategies for Consumer Protection in Health Care: The Case for Public-Private Partnerships

Background

To address consumer protection and safety on a national basis takes a partnership of many public and private organizations and agencies. The activities of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations and Joint Commission International (JCI) include participation in national and international strategies that may be instructive to consumer advocates and stakeholders in many countries.

Overview of the Joint Commission

The Joint Commission, whose mission is to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations, also participates in numerous efforts, including setting state-of-the-art standards, maintaining a sentinel event database, establishing National Patient Safety Goals, providing consumer access to quality reports on accredited organizations, encouraging patients to take a role in preventing health care errors, and supporting safety-related legislative initiatives.

Conclusions

Countries are pressed to involve a wide variety of private and public agencies to make a measurable impact on consumer protection and safety. The Joint Commission has worked to address the need for safety with a multiprogram and multipartner approach in the United States. JCI has moved many of these strategies into the international arena and will seek opportunities to partner with governments, health care organizations, and consumer protection agencies as part of its mission to improve the safety and quality of health care in the international community.