Background: Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation is well known as an international hospital accreditation body focused on improving the quality of health care and patient safety. Over 90% of JCI-accredited hospitals in China are private hospitals. Our study is the first one to examine the impact of JCI accreditation on Chinese private hospitals. The study objective was to assess the association between JCI accreditation and clinical, operational, and financial performance measures. Methods: We used multiple-group interrupted time series analysis(ITSA) to compare intervention Hospital A and comparison Hospital B in terms of eight performance measures based on monthly observations over seven years from January 2015 to December 2021. The clinical quality measures used were the C-section rate, perineal incision rate, incidence of macrosomia, and preterm birth rate. The operational performance indicators were the number of outpatient visits and the number of deliveries. The financial performance measures were revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation & amortization(EBITDA). Results: P value of <0.05 was used for statistical significance. The regression analysis indicated that JCI accreditation significantly associated with the C-section rate, the number of outpatient visits, the number of deliveries, and revenue. However, JCI accreditation had no statistically significant association with the other three clinical measures, namely, the perineal incision rate, incidence of macrosomia, and preterm birth rate. No evidence demonstrated that JCI accreditation statistically associated with EBITDA. Conclusions: This is the first study to evaluatethe impact of JCI accreditationon select clinical, operational, and financial performance measures in Chinese private hospitals, which account for over 90% of all JCI-accredited hospitals in China. JCI accreditation is significantly associated with a reduction in the C-section rate, an increase in revenue, and increased outpatient visits and deliveries. The associated external assessment promotes the continuous improvement of care quality and patient safety. Hospital management may use JCI accreditation as a management tool to drive integration, collaboration, and improvement. Clinical trial registration: Not applicable

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