ISO 9000 series standards: what healthcare facilities need to know

With the recent trend toward implementing or improving quality systems and the increasing frequency with which vendors looking to secure a place in the world market have cited the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) 9000 Series quality system standards, healthcare facilities have been expressing increased interest in learning about these standards, especially ISO 9001, 9002, and 9003. In this article, we briefly discuss the ISO 9000 Series standards--what they are and what they mean--so that healthcare facilities can properly assess the significance of vendors' statements citing compliance with one or more of these standards.