Revisions to the Disease-Specific Care Certification core requirements are designed to support emerging trends in disease-specific care and to promote compliance with improved quality and safety of patient care.
These revisions, applicable to Joint Commission–certified disease-specific care programs, address the following issues:
- Involvement of a multidisciplinary team in a disease-specific care program
- Emphasis on transitioning the patient to different settings
- Prioritizing sustained performance improvement and synchronizing it with clinical practice guidelines
- Connection between a procedure/condition and a patient’s chronic illness(es)
- Increased focus on a patient’s self-management
- Modification of language from “participant” to “patient” (or “patient and family”)
Effective July 1, 2013, for Disease-Specific Care Programs