Holyoke Medical Center Receives ISO 9001:2015 Certification

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) has achieved certification to the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System, reflecting the organization’s commitment to quality, transparency, and customer satisfaction.  Holyoke Medical Center is the first and only hospital in Western Mass. to obtain this accomplishment.

“Achieving the ISO certification is consistent with our long-term commitment to quality and patient safety,” said Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems.  “The ability to integrate the ISO 9001 quality standards with our clinical processes is a major step forward to continually improve our systems and performance to deliver the highest standards of care. We are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication demonstrated by our exceptional team of employees who helped us obtain this goal.”

The certification is valid for three years and is provided by DNV GL – Business Assurance. HMC has been working with DNV GL for its annual accreditation process since 2015.

Prior to making the decision to switch its accreditation organization to DNV GL, Hatiras noted, HMC did extensive research into the benefits of adopting its accreditation program, NIAHO (National Integrated Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations), and ISO 9001 quality-management standards.

“We interviewed a number of hospitals accredited by DNV GL and were very impressed with the improvements and achievements they have accomplished under those standards,” he added. “In addition, consistent with our efforts to keep raising the bar for ourselves, we have experienced more value in undergoing DNV GL’s more intensive survey process, which is conducted annually instead of every three years.”

ISO 9001 is the most widely used quality-management standard, and has recently undergone a periodic update to better reflect modern business challenges. Last modified in 2008, the new 2015 version of ISO 9001 is the result of input from business and technical experts around the world.