ORYX® is The Joint Commission’s performance measurement and improvement initiative, first implemented in 1997.
ORYX requirements for the Long Term Care Accreditation Program
Medicare/Medicaid certified long term care organizations
Medicare/Medicaid-certified long-term care organizations continue to meet ORYX performance measurement requirements through one of two currently approved options:
- Continued participation in an external performance measurement system and submission of data to the Joint Commission for the required number of performance measures (six), or
- Sharing federally mandated quality indicator data reports derived from the National Quality Forum (NQF)-endorsed final set of Quality Measures for long term care with surveyors at the time of survey. This permits accredited long term care organizations to use the same data to satisfy both government performance reporting and Joint Commission ORYX requirements.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to publicly report on its Nursing Home Compare website the scores achieved by long term care facilities that are required to use the enhanced NQF-endorsed quality measures.
Long term care organizations that are not Medicare/Medicaid certified
Joint Commission accredited long term care organizations that are not Medicare/Medicaid certified are required to continue to participate with a listed performance measurement system and submit data to The Joint Commission for the minimum required number of performance measures (six) until such time as a relevant core set of performance measures applicable to long term care organizations that are not Medicare/Medicaid certified is established and implemented by The Joint Commission.
Background
Introduced in February 1997, The Joint Commission’s ORYX initiative was designed to integrate outcomes and other performance measurement data into the accreditation process. As such, ORYX measurement requirements were originally intended to support Joint Commission accredited organizations in their internal quality improvement efforts as assessed through the onsite survey process. Over time, data use has expanded in the accreditation process (i.e., the Priority Focus Process and the Strategic Surveillance System), for public reporting and accountability purposes, and for pay-for-performance initiatives (including the Reporting Hospital Quality Data Annual Payment Update process administered through CMS). Specifically, the Priority Focus Process helps The Joint Commission focus onsite survey activities.
The Joint Commission continues to keep pace with evolving federal performance measurement expectations and will continue to align its measurement and reporting activities with those of CMS to the fullest extent possible, deploying only those measures that, where appropriate, are endorsed by the National Quality Forum. This measure alignment makes it easier and less costly for accredited organizations to comply with existing CMS and Joint Commission requirements for data collection and reporting.
For more information
Organizations are encouraged to keep apprised of any changes or developments in ORYX performance measurement requirements for long term care organizations by regularly visiting The Joint Commission’s website, or reviewing future issues of Joint Commission Perspectives.
For more information about the ORYX options for long term care organizations, call Frank Zibrat, associate director, at (630) 792-5992 or e-mail fzibrat@jointcommission.org. For general information about ORYX, call your account representative at (630) 792-3007 or the ORYX Information Line at (630) 792-5085, submit questions to oryx@jointcommission.org, or visit http://www.jointcommission.org/AccreditationPrograms/LongTermCare/ORYX/.
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