May 2008

This column informs you of developments and potential revisions that can affect your accreditation and tracks proposed changes before they are implemented. Items may drop off this list before the approval stage if they were rejected at some point in the process. (Reprinted from Perspectives®, May 2008)

JOINT COMMISSION FIELD REVIEW

Field review notifications are sent out electronically as well as posted on The Joint Commission Web site. If you would like to be added to the electronic notification list, please contact the Division of Standards and Survey Methods at 630/792-5912.

• Standards Improvement Initiative: “Ethics, Rights, and Responsibilities” (RI),
  “Management of Human Resources” (HR), “Management of the Environment of Care” (EC), “Medication Management” (MM), “Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services” (PC), “Quality Control” (QC), and “Waived Testing” (WT) chapters for the behavioral health care, laboratory, long term care, and Medicare/Medicaid certification-based long term care programs

IN COMMITTEE OR BOARD REVIEW

• Standards Improvement Initiative: Revised “Emergency Management” (EM), “Equipment Management” (EQ), “Nursing” (NR), the second half of “Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services” (PC), “Record of Care, Treatment, and Services” (RC), “Transplant Safety” (TS), and “Waived Testing” (WT) chapters for the ambulatory care, critical access hospital, home care, hospital, and office-based surgery programs
• Proposed revisions to the Opioid Treatment Programs based on recent revisions to the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment’s accreditation guidelines for the behavioral health care program 
• New Distinct Part Units (DPU) requirements for the critical access hospital program
• Health care services certification program for services such as palliative care
• Candidate 2009 National Patient Safety Goals for the ambulatory care, behavioral health care, critical access hospital, disease-specific care, home care, hospital, laboratory, long term care, and office-based surgery programs, effective January 1,2009
• Thrombolytic therapy revisions to the advanced disease-specific care certification program for primary stroke centers

CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT

STANDARDS

• Comprehensive Standards Improvement Initiative encompassing the behavioral health care, laboratory, long term care, and Medicare/Medicaid certification-based long term care programs
• Proposed revisions to medication management Standards MM.4.10 and MM.8.10 for the critical access hospital and hospital programs
• Potential standards related to Health Information Technology

JOINT COMMISSION INTERNATIONAL

Field review notifications are sent out electronically as well as posted on the Joint Commission International (JCI) Web site. If you would like to be added to the electronic notification list, please sign up online by visiting the following direct link: http://www.jointcommissioninternational.org/23201/

IN DEVELOPMENT AT JCI

• Revisions to international ambulatory care standards
• Revisions to international disease-specific care certification standards
• Revisions to international laboratory standards

IN COMMITTEE REVIEW

• International standards for primary care