The new initiative aims to revise standards to better reflect the unique needs of pediatric patients.
Joint Commission announced a new children’s healthcare strategy designed to address gaps in how children’s hospitals are accredited and certified for the care they provide. This initiative aims to recognize children’s unique healthcare needs, as currently, standards do not distinguish between the respective healthcare needs of adults and children.
“The reality is children are not simply ‘small adults.’ Their healthcare requires a specialized lens and approach,” says Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Joint Commission, in a release. “That’s why Joint Commission is stepping up to work directly with the children’s health community to ensure our standards are applicable for this population, which should better support children’s healthcare organizations in their delivery of excellent health outcomes.”
In response to requests from the children’s health community, Joint Commission’s initial focus will be evolving its accreditation and certification programs for dedicated children’s hospitals, aiming to remove and/or revise inapplicable standards to better suit the circumstances of these organizations. To help determine what standards will be edited, Joint Commission has formed a Children’s Healthcare Advisory Committee, a council of pediatric clinicians and child healthcare executives who will advise on the development of this and other frameworks.
Tapping Children’s Health Experts to Lead the Charge
The committee will be co-led by two children’s health leaders: Michelle Riley-Brown, MHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s National Hospital; and Michael Anderson, MD, pediatric intensivist and former CEO of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Both will serve as senior thought leaders and subject matter experts for the initiative.
“In my 26 years as a children’s hospital administrator, I’ve seen firsthand why children and the dedicated providers who care for them deserve health standards that reflect their unique needs,” says Riley-Brown in a release. “I’m honored to help lead this critically important work and look forward to seeing the impact at Children’s National and across the country.”
The committee will also explore how accreditation and certification can better serve the healthcare needs of children, from supporting their development to family-centered practices, and serve as a national forum for thought leadership, policy innovation, and clinical insight.
This focus on children’s healthcare will be featured at UNIFY 2025: Convening for Quality, Joint Commission’s inaugural thought leadership summit, taking place Sept 16–17, 2025, in Washington, DC. The conference will convene over 1,000 healthcare leaders, clinicians, and quality professionals to address the most pressing challenges in healthcare quality and safety.
“Children’s healthcare services are distinct, and we must intentionally evaluate and treat them as such,” says Perlin in a release. “We’re proud to lead this effort—alongside the nation’s foremost voices—building appropriate, specialized healthcare standards for the children’s health community. Together, our goal is to build a framework for quality and safety that children and their families can rely on every time they walk through the doors of an accredited healthcare organization.”
