The 8th edition hospital standards set five goals, identify patients correctly, improve effective communication, improve the safety of medications, ensure safe surgery, and reduce the risk of health care-associated infections. JCI notes the goals vary by accreditation programme.
The five goals
| Goal | What it asks | Evidence that shows it |
|---|---|---|
| Identify patients correctly | The right patient, every time | Two identifiers used in every system and at every step |
| Improve effective communication | Orders, results and handovers understood | Critical results recorded with who received them and when |
| Improve the safety of medications | High-alert medications handled safely | Checks before prescribing and a record of what was signed |
| Ensure safe surgery | Right patient, procedure and site | Consent, site marking and the pre-procedure check on the record |
| Reduce the risk of infections | Hand hygiene and infection prevention | Measured compliance, trended and acted on |
JCI lists these five goals on its patient safety goals page, and notes they vary by setting and programme.1 In the 8th edition hospital standards, patient falls moved into the Assessment of Patients chapter.2
- Pick one owner per goal. A clinical leader who audits it and answers for it.
- Audit monthly. A small sample every month, scored the same way each time.
- Trace from the record. Follow real patients and check each goal at each step.
- Show the trend. Surveyors look back six months, so keep at least that much data.
- Close the loop. Every miss gets an action, an owner and a date.
- Goal ______ Owner ______
- Sample size ______ Compliant ______
- Misses and why ______
- Action, owner and date ______
- Trend over six months ______
Questions
Are there six goals or five?
Five in the 8th edition hospital standards. Falls moved into Assessment of Patients, and other programmes may differ.
Do the goals apply to ambulatory centres?
Ambulatory centres follow the goals in their own manual. JCI notes the goals vary by programme.
How do surveyors check the goals?
Mostly in tracers, by following patients and asking the staff who cared for them.
Sources
- 1Joint Commission International, 2026International Patient Safety GoalsRead source
- 2Joint Commission International, 2024JCI Accreditation Standards for Hospitals, 8th editionRead source
Written by the wai team from Joint Commission International guidance, checked on 15 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. JCI does not endorse wai or any software.