Applicable to all accreditation and certification programs - Effective January 1, 2012, The Joint Commission has reinstated a 2011 decision rule (AFS02) in the Accreditation with Follow-up Survey category for all accreditation programs, as well as the corresponding decision rule (CFR02, which was CFR06) in the Certification with Review category for all certification programs
Applicable to Ambulatory Care Accreditation program - Effective immediately, The Joint Commission has revised three elements of performance (EPs) relevant to deemed-status ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) in the Ambulatory Care Accreditation program. The changes align Joint Commission requirements with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) revisions to several Medicare Conditions for Coverage for ASCs that published on October 14, 2011.
Participants in the Workgroup on Attributes of a Health Literate Organization of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Health Literacy have developed a discussion paper that identifies 10 attributes of a health literate organization.
Links to pertinent information recently posted to the website.
On February 14, the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare will launch its second project in the Targeted Solutions Tool™ (TST), which focuses on the Center’s Wrong Site Surgery project. Reducing the risk of wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong patient surgery is critical to patient safety and the reputation of any health care organization that performs these high risk procedures. While wrong site surgery events are rare, they can be life altering for the patients who sustain them.
Applicable to Primary Care Medical Home Certification program - Effective immediately, The Joint Commission will use the term “certification” in place of the term “designation” regarding its Primary Care Medical Home option (which is an optional add-on to the Ambulatory Care Accreditation program).
Applicable to Advancer Certification for Palliative Care - Clarification of eligibility criteria for Advanced Certification for Palliative Care program
In response to customer requests, The Joint Commission has clarified the eligibility criteria for its Advanced Certification for Palliative Care program, which evaluates hospital-based palliative care programs that deliver care to a defined patient population. The clarification includes a note regarding hospice patients.
The LIVESTRONG® foundation has selected The Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification for Palliative Care as one of the programs for which it will provide grants through the 2012 Community Impact Project. This project provides funding for evidence-based community programs that better the lives of those affected by cancer. Funded programs will support thousands of people both during and post treatment, along with their families.