Healthcare Accreditation for Jails
Last Revised: October 27, 2025
- Issue Areas
- Health and well-being Justice and public safety
Program overview
Promoting health care best practices in jails: National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) health services accreditation is a voluntary evaluation process for jails, prisons, and juvenile facilities. Assessment criteria aim to ensure that detention centers operate based on standards of medical best practice.
Designed for facilities of all sizes: NCCHC health services accreditation may be obtained by jails, prisons and juvenile detention facilities of any size provided they are judged in compliance with standards across nine areas: “Governance and administration, Safety, Personnel and training, Health care services and support, Inmate care and treatment, Health promotion, Special needs and services, Health records, Medical-legal issues.” Exact evaluation criteria differ depending on the type of facility being examined. Accreditation has been found to lower the number of deaths in facilities and reduce recidivism rates. It represents public acknowledgment that facilities meet correctional healthcare standards and may lower risk of related litigation and liability.
Accreditation Process: The accreditation process involves inspections and interviews conducted by NCCHC-provided physicians and staff, followed by approval from a committee of government, industry, and health care professionals. All standards rated as “essential” must be met, and at least 85% of standards rated “important” must be fulfilled to become accredited. Depending on the facilities’ standards met, the committee may require a specific improvement, which when instituted will result in approval, or, if large portions of requirements are failed, the facility has the option to make significant changes and receive another in person evaluation.
- Cost
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Accreditation costs depend on the ADP (average daily population) of the facility, certain types of services it may offer, and “other factors.” After accreditation is acquired facilities pay an additional annual fee.
A single rigorously designed study provides some evidence for healthcare accreditation for jails as a strategy to decrease deaths in incarceration facilities and decrease recidivism.
A 2025 randomized controlled trial across 44 jails found that NCCHC accreditation significantly decreased facilities’ average monthly deaths and recidivism rates, and increased compliance with personnel training and healthcare standards and coordination among healthcare and correctional staff.
Preparing for accreditation: Before the NCCHC surveyors visit a facility, institutions receive a self-assessment survey outlining the standards on which facilities will be judged. Institutions can then make changes to policies and procedures to ensure they will meet standards by the in-person evaluation. To maintain accreditation, facilities must pass in-person inspections every three years.
Emphasize patient experiences and outcomes: The NCCHC evaluation focuses on policies and procedures as opposed to facilities’ health outcomes. Beyond achieving accreditation status, detention centers should track policy implementation and patient outcomes data to ensure they are delivering quality care.