to main content Our Priorities | The Joint Commission
At The Joint Commission, we believe we have an ever-greater responsibility to do good in the world. We are committed to operating every part of our business in ways that are responsible and sustainable, while continuing to advance progress across the industry’s most pressing quality and safety challenges. Our guiding principle is to work with health care providers to translate intent into action, realizing a more promising tomorrow, together.

Ongoing Quality & Safety Priorities

The Joint Commission continues to support providers as they tackle some of the most challenging ongoing quality and safety issues, including:
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Our vision is that all people always experience safe, high-quality health care. Today however, health care quality and health outcomes are often worse for racial/ethnic minorities, women, people living in rural communities, people with disabilities, those living in poverty, people with lower educational attainment, and other historically marginalized groups.
Learn how we are driving change

Environmental Sustainability

Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health. As health professionals work diligently to help patients cope with the adverse health effects of pollution, the health care industry itself has emerged as major emitter environmental pollutants.

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If health care worldwide was its own country, it would be one of the top five largest carbon emitters on the planet.

The Joint Commission is working collaboratively with other experts to foster innovative solutions to this challenge. We’ve convened a Decarbonization Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) focused on:

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Reviewing existing standards and survey methods to identify ways we contribute to waste and CO2 emissions.
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Identifying potential new standards for health care providers to reduce waste and CO2 emissions.
Leading by example, The Joint Commission also signed the White House Decarbonization Pledge that asks signees to commit to reducing their organization’s emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. Join us on the journey to make health care healthier for everyone.

COVID-19 exacerbated the global shortage of health care workers and the challenges they face — including accelerated rates of burnout and other mental health crises. As shortages of health care workers continue, creating strain on these professionals, quality and safety risks often rise. The Joint Commission is doing its part to address contributing factors of burnout such as overly burdensome administrative requirements. In that spirit, we are pleased to announce that The Joint Commission is beginning a review of all our “above and beyond” requirements, those that go beyond CMS’ Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and are not on crosswalks to the CoPs.

  • ,,Just wanted to say 'thank you', from a person focusing upon both clinician wellbeing and patient safety, this is a big win. Thank you very much for the forward thinking of your CEO, from a Human Factors/Ergonomics point of view. In particular Macro (Organizational) Ergonomics, relief in the right direction. Distilling to what really matters as there is no extra time for anyone in healthcare, and every single person from administration to clinician and staff is overwhelmed with excessive expectations.,,

    Michael R. Privitera, M.D., M.S. - Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry - University of Rochester Medical Center

The ultimate outcome is to eliminate standards and elements of performance that don’t add commensurate value. Stay tuned for updates on our progress.