Disease-Speciific Care Certification programs and services are required to collect and analyze data on at least four performance measures related to or identified in clinical practice guidelines for each program or service. Measures selected by the program or service should be evidence-based, relevant, valid and reliable. Joint Commission will not be prescriptive during Stage I regarding which specific measures are to be implemented; the emphasis will be on the use of performance measures for improving care. The standards require the disease-specific care program or service to demonstrate that it:
- Routinely applies the cycle for performance improvement to identify and address improvement opportunities
- Implements a plan for improvement and graphically depicts measurement results over time to demonstrate improvement in the measured areas
- Reviews the effectiveness of the interventions implemented in response to improvement opportunities identified by the measurement activity
For more information see the new Performance Measurement Requirements for DSC Certification (CKD, COPD, LVRS, VAD, Inpatient Diabetes, Primary Stroke Centers), Effective July 1, 2007.