Research

Understanding clinic accreditations: JCI, ISO, NABH, and the rest

2026-03-12 5 min readby cliniccheck team

Not all "accreditations" mean the same thing. A plain-English guide to the badges you will see on clinic websites.

Clinic websites list accreditations like trophies. Some are meaningful. Some are decorative. Here is the short version:

JCI (Joint Commission International)

The gold standard. Hospital-wide, re-assessed every three years. Verifiable at jointcommissioninternational.org.

ISO 9001

A management-systems standard, not a clinical one. Useful as a baseline but not evidence of clinical quality.

NABH (India)

India's national hospital accreditation. Rigorous and widely recognised internationally.

National Ministry of Health licence

The legal minimum. Operating without one is illegal. Confirm the licence number.

"Award winning"

This means nothing on its own. Ask which award, who issued it and when.

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