What do ISQua and IEEA recognition mean?

The ISQua External Evaluation Association (IEEA) assesses organisations that evaluate healthcare, as well as standards and eligible training programmes. ISQua established it in Geneva in 2018 as a separate legal entity.

Who runs it and is it the government?

IEEA is an independent association, and ISQua is a nonprofit organisation. Its International Accreditation Programme is not a government approval system. It is also not statutory European Union accreditation under Regulation 765/2008.

For patients, the important distinction is the recipient. IEEA can recognise an accreditor or a set of standards used to assess hospitals. It does not automatically award accreditation to each clinic that displays that accreditor's logo. Your hospital's status remains a separate question for the organisation that issued its award.

What does it assess and for how long?

Assessment includes self-assessment and documentary review. Organisation assessment also involves an on-site peer review, while standards and training are assessed remotely. Awards last four years and include ongoing progress reports. IEEA's accreditation information explains the assessment framework.

The categories matter. Organisation, Standards, Surveyor Training and Assessed Organisation describe different subjects of evaluation. A standards award does not establish that the standards owner also holds an organisation award.

Similarly, recognition issued to a parent organisation should retain that parent's name. Ask for the exact recipient and category if a clinic or accreditor describes its status only as “ISQua recognised”. That shorter wording can leave out the detail you need.

How do I find a clinic in its register?

Use IEEA's awards directory to search for the accreditor's name, rather than expecting this programme to list your clinic. Choose the award category and read the start and end dates.

Compare the directory wording with the claim you have been given. Then use the accreditor's own recipient directory to check the hospital. These are two distinct checks: who evaluated the accreditor, and whether the accreditor awarded the hospital a current certificate.

What does it not tell me?

IEEA recognition does not license a doctor, authorise a clinic to operate or guarantee a patient's outcome. It also cannot turn a standards-only award into accreditation of the organisation that wrote those standards.

Follow How to check any mark in five minutes when you move from the evaluator's claim to the clinic's claim.

Checked on 23 October 2026.