Leading the way in quality and patient safety
In August 2021, St. Peter’s became the first health care system in Montana to receive ISO-9001:2015 Quality Management certification following a spring 2021 on-site survey from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) accrediting agency DNV Healthcare.
St. Peter’s has been on a journey to achieve ISO certification since 2018. Achieving this certification demonstrates a commitment to our people and our community to continuously improve and provide the highest quality standards.
What is ISO-9001:2015?
Established in 1946, the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, is an independent, non-governmental organization that measures and awards certification to companies and organizations from civil engineering and aerospace to health care and agriculture based on their adoption and adherence to quality processes and standards. It is regarded as one of the highest quality standards in the world.
How does it measure quality?
The ISO-9001:2015 standard is based on quality measurement principles like a strong customer focus, process approach, governance and continual improvement.
How does certification help St. Peter’s deliver the highest-quality, safest care?
Processes and systems are critical in health care. ISO-9001:2015 sets out criteria for a quality management system that focuses on the effectiveness of methods to reduce failure and promote continuous improvement. This criteria is being applied in many ways at St. Peter’s to change, evaluate and refine processes, procedures and systems.
What’s an example of ISO-9001:2015 standard implementation?
What do you do when something goes wrong in health care? St. Peter’s believes the answer to this question says a lot about the integrity and safety of an organization. At St. Peter’s, identified issues—like those related to patient care—are handled in a variety of ways. For example, St. Peter’s holds root cause analyses, or RCAs, when an adverse situation or outcome occurs. These are meetings that include all staff members who were involved in a situation, focusing on what went wrong, what went right and what processes can be improved to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
"We
made a commitment to ourselves and our community to double down on our efforts around patient safety and quality. Receiving this certification validates all the hard work and improvements we’ve made in our quality management."
~Regional Medical Center President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shelly Harkins