The Joint Commission launched the Strategic Surveillance System (S3™) for accredited hospitals in mid-2007. Provided at no additional cost, S3 is a tool that helps accredited organizations identify and prioritize areas for improvement.
S3 is accessible via The Joint Commission Connect, an organization’s secure extranet site. S3 uses data The Joint Commission currently has, including:
- past survey findings
- complaint and sentinel event information
- data from an organization’s electronic application
- ORYX® core measure data (for hospitals)
- CMS MedPAR data (for hospitals)
- CMS Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) data
Organizations can use the resulting data and information to drive quality and safety improvements. Reports are posted and updated quarterly on each organization’s extranet site. Organizations with a common owner are able to compare S3 data among themselves to identify trends or common areas for improvement. The data included in the S3 tool is confidential and will not be released publicly.
S3 provides:
- comparative performance data at state and national levels
- industry benchmarks that can be used to compare and set organization performance levels
- performance measurement reports that can help support quality and safety improvement efforts (for hospitals)
For more information about S3, visit The Joint Commission Web site, contact your account executive, or send an e-mail to the S3 Team at S3Help@jointcommission.org.