The Joint Commission (TJC)

Description: An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.

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The Joint Commission (TJC): State-by-State Recognition of Accrediting Bodies

Description: The Joint Commission’s various accreditation/certification programs are recognized and relied on by many states in the states’ quality oversight activities. Recognition and reliance refers to the acceptance of, requirement for, or other reference to the use of Joint Commission accreditation, in whole or in part, by one or more governmental agencies in exercising regulatory authority. Recognition and reliance may include use of accreditation for licensing, certification or contracting purposes by various state agencies. 

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Facility Guidelines Institute

Description: The Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI), a not-for-profit corporation, was founded in 1998 to provide continuity in the facility guidelines revision process, function as a contractual coordinating entity, and enhance the content and format of Guidelines and publications that encourage and improve their application and use. Click the link to the right to read a letter from the FGI president discussing recent FGI activities.

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Health Guidelines Revision Committee (HGRC)

Description: The Health Guidelines Revision Committee (HGRC) is a select multi-disciplinary consensus body of more than 120 clinicians, administrators, architects, engineers, and representatives from authorities having jurisdiction that is convened to revise and update the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities. As a group, HGRC members are experts on the many issues addressed in the Guidelines. The participation of individuals with such a wide range of expertise helps make the document one that truly reflects a variety of clinical, administrative, engineering, and design concerns that is indeed based on interdisciplinary consensus. This consensus is developed through a public process that includes three meetings of the full HGRC generally held over a two-year period.

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The 2018 Facility Guidelines Institute’s (FGI) Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals, and Guidelines for Design and Construction of Outpatient Facilities

Description: The revised Hospital Guidelines requirements provide minimum design standards for general hospitals, freestanding emergency facilities, critical access hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, children’s hospitals, and mobile/transportable medical units.

The new standalone Outpatient Guidelines provides minimum design standards for a variety of outpatient facility types, including facilities for general and specialty medical services facilities, outpatient imaging, urgent care, outpatient surgery, emergency services, endoscopy, renal dialysis, outpatient psychiatric services, outpatient rehabilitation services, and general dentistry as well as birth centers, infusion centers, and mobile/transportable medical units. Guidance is provided for applying the Guidelines to outpatient facilities of numerous types, both freestanding and part of existing facilities, including those not specifically addressed in the document.

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Center for Health Design

Description: The Center for Health Design (CHD) was formed in 1993 by a small cadre of pioneering healthcare and design professionals committed to advancing a singular idea – that design could be used to improve patient outcomes in healthcare environments. Our passion proved contagious. Today, we’re a far-reaching, international community leading the effort to improve the quality of healthcare facilities worldwide, as well as environments for healthy aging. 

Description: The Center for Health Design offers many learning tools and resources to help you design and build hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, wellness centers, and residential care facilities with improved satisfaction rates, increased safety, fewer medical errors, better medical outcomes and a healthier bottom line.

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Center for Health Design: Knowledge Repository 

Description: The Knowledge Repository, a centerpiece for all healthcare design research, papers, articles and references, allowing users to search publications by types of publications, terms, design category, outcome category, environmental condition category or setting, and provides the number of references available for each defined category.  Users can also conduct searches by entering a key word in the search box.  The results appear with the most recent references at the top of the page.

Easy-to-use key point summaries for select references are available and allow users the ability to easily and quickly review important concepts found in each of these articles, such as findings and design implications. Additional key point summaries provided by Research Design Connections will continue to be added.

Designed as a living library, this repository provides a one-stop, complete source of healthcare EBD research, and as such will continue to grow and develop as healthcare design evolves. For researchers, it increases the visibility, usage and impact of their work.  For users, it provides a complete source of healthcare design research. 

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U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs; Office of Construction and Facilities Management; Technical Information Library 

Description: The Office of Construction & Facilities Management (CFM) is responsible for the planning, design, and construction of all major construction projects greater than $10 million.  In addition, CFM acquires real property for use by VA elements through the purchase of land and buildings, as well as long-term lease acquisitions.  Through the construction and real property programs, CFM delivers to Veterans, high quality buildings, additions, large scale renovations, and structural enhancements.  CFM also manages facility sustainability, seismic corrections, physical security, and historic preservation of VA’s facilities.

The Technical Information Library (TIL) is The Source for VA's electronic Design and Construction Information. The TIL contains nearly 2,500 documents covering all aspects of VA facility development, from planning through construction to occupancy. The TIL document collection represents the institutional knowledge resulting from the more than 50 continuous years of the VA construction program.

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Academy Health: Advancing Research, Policy and Practice

Description: Academy Health is a leading national organization serving the fields of health services and policy research and the professionals who produce and use this important work. Together with our members, we offer programs and services that support the development and use of rigorous, relevant and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to reduce disparities, and to improve health. A trusted broker of information, AcademyHealth brings stakeholders together to address the current and future needs of an evolving health system, inform health policy, and translate evidence into action.

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