Evaluation of Patient-Oriented Standards of Joint Commission International in Gilan and Mazandaran Teaching Hospitals

Background: Medical tourism, a multi-million-dollar industry, has had a significant effect in economic flourishing, creating jobs, and preventing the outflow of currency. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate teaching hospitals affiliated to Gilan and Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, according to joint commission international (JCI) standards. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted among teaching hospitals affiliated to Gilan and Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences during year 2015. To collect data and evaluate the hospitals, patient-oriented standards of JCI was applied. Results: Amongst the eight standards, international patient safety goals (IPSG) (with a score of 87.5%) had the highest, and patient and family education (PFE) (with a score of 53.75%) had the lowest score. Hospital “4” with a score of 90.41%, had the highest, and hospital “7” with 58.90%, had the lowest rate of compliance to the standards. According to the Mann-Whitney test, the observed statistics considering a P value of ≤ 0.05 level, was not significant, therefore on a 95% certainty level, there was no significant difference between hospitals in Gilan and Mazandaran, regarding compliance with standards. Overall, the hospitals under study were relatively prepared for attracting medical tourists. Conclusions: According to the results, it seems that more planning and implementation of projects is required to strengthen the axes of the joint commission regarding accreditation of hospitals and attraction of medical tourists to these centers, especially foreign tourists. Researchers are recommended to pay special attention to the university of medical sciences of two provinces for the establishment of standards and utilization of professional consultants. Keywords: Medical Tourism, Patient-Oriented Standards, JCI, Gilan, Mazandaran, Hospital