July 16, 2008
Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.
On July 15 Congress voted to override President Bush’s veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 that includes a provision relating to hospital accreditation deemed status. The Medicare reform bill is now law. While Congress clearly expects an uninterrupted continuation of the deemed status significance of Joint Commission hospital accreditation, the provision removes the unique deeming authority that the Medicare statute has specifically given The Joint Commission’s hospital accreditation program since 1965.
In principle, The Joint Commission generally supports the provision’s intention. The provision requires all accrediting bodies, including The Joint Commission, to apply to CMS for hospital deeming authority. This is a process that The Joint Commission and all other accrediting bodies already go through when seeking deeming authority for the quality oversight of other types of providers, such as home care, laboratory and ambulatory surgery accreditation programs.
It is important to note that accredited hospitals will not lose their deemed status. The provision contains a transition period so as not to disrupt the deemed status of accredited hospitals in addition to a 24-month period for The Joint Commission to apply for deeming authority and be recognized by CMS. The Joint Commission will apply for and is confident that it will receive deeming authority.
Media Contact:
Ken Powers
The Joint Commission
630-792-5175
kpowers@jointcommission.org