Georgia — ASF’s Founding Implementation Market
The live proof of concept for the local adaptation model. Assessment in Georgian. By Georgian experts. Against Georgian healthcare law. Since 2011.
Accreditation Canada certificate presentation, Georgia, 2023 — first Georgian healthcare facilities to receive international accreditation
The first four Georgian healthcare facilities to receive international accreditation in the country’s history — ASF Basic Standard, 2023
The NAP Partnership — PHIG
The National Adaptation Partner for Georgia is the Public Health Institute of Georgia (PHIG), founded by Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze in 2011 and chaired by him since. PHIG is the authorised local Certification authority for Georgia, delivers all training in Georgian, and maintains the local certification registry at certificate.ge.
- All Coordinator and Monitor training delivered in Georgian
- All certification assessment and decisions made in Georgian
- Local regulation — Georgian healthcare legislation, Ministry of Health orders — mapped in the Georgia Local Regulation Module
- PHIG charges for certification services at Georgian market rates — fully self-sustaining
- Quality improvement that belongs to the community it serves
SheniEkimi Certification at Certificate.ge
The Georgian certification programme operates as SheniEkimi Certification at certificate.ge. Facilities earn a co-branded SheniEkimi / ASF Certified silver badge, listed on both certificate.ge and the ASF global registry.
A Decade of Advocacy — The Georgian Story
Georgia is not simply an early adopter — it is the country where the entire accreditation model was incubated, proved, and eventually made national policy. The trajectory from 2011 to 2022 is the empirical foundation on which ASF’s theory of change rests.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2011 | PHIG established in Tbilisi by Prof. Pkhakadze as the institutional foundation for quality improvement advocacy |
| 2014 | First JCI expert mission to Georgia; study visit to JCI-accredited hospitals in Turkey — initiated by Prof. Pkhakadze as Deputy CEO of Evex Medical Corporation |
| 2017 | David Tvildiani Medical University formally endorses a national accreditation and ISO 9001 programme |
| 2020 | ASF founded in Paris, with Georgia as the primary implementation market |
| 2021 | First four Georgian healthcare facilities accredited — first international accreditation in Georgian history |
| 2022 | Ministry of Health of Georgia issues decree making independent international accreditation mandatory for all healthcare facilities |
| 2023 | PHIG becomes official national representative of Accreditation Canada in Georgia; 23–24 facilities undergoing AC international accreditation |
Ministry of Health, Tbilisi, 2022 — PHIG/ASF delegation ahead of the mandatory accreditation decree
GAEM International Conference, Tbilisi, July 2022 — ASF recognised from the conference stage
For Georgian Facilities — Three Steps
Step 1 — Free Self-Assessment
Run the free ASF self-assessment for your facility type. No account required. Full gap report in Georgian.
Step 2 — Contact PHIG
Contact PHIG at info@accreditation.ge or visit certificate.ge to begin the certification process in Georgian.
Step 3 — Certification
Complete the half-day local Monitor visit and receive your SheniEkimi / ASF Certified badge within days.
From Certification to Accreditation
The 12-month certification period equals Year 1 of the accreditation cycle. Your certification history is recognised by the ADC — you are not starting from zero.
Peer-reviewed evidence: The Georgian accreditation programme is the subject of a peer-reviewed study published in the Georgian Medical Journal (2026), analysing cost structures and access barriers in international healthcare accreditation. Open access: doi:10.66636/gmj.v1.i3.a205
