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The value of Joint Commission accreditation for our facilities
really is the fact that we've raised the bar
to quality and patient safety.
(Missy) We have a body that's coming to us and saying, "Yes, you're doing
what you should be doing for our patients and providing great, great, quality care."
The greatest value for us, I think, is the assurance
that we're staying current and compliant
in a rapidly changing regulatory environment.
(Nazanin) For us, The Joint Commission provides a great framework,
so it helps us stay continually ready.
We rely on the resources that you provide,
such as the Quick Safety, the Sentinel Event Alerts,
since you're able to look at trends nationally
that helps us focus on the critical violations
for our hospital that could affect us.
It's not just about getting a certificate at the end of the accreditation.
(Jackie) For me, it's really about the journey of achieving
that accreditation.
It's about continual readiness, being ready for every patient, every day.
(Jackie) It's about implementing strategies that improve the quality
and safety of the services you're providing.
Joint Commission does a wonderful job of helping us not just comply
with the standard per the language,
but to actually understand the intention
of really what is the intent of that standard,
and how does it help us achieve quality and patient safety.
At Inova Health System,
I think the value of Joint Commission accreditation
is really that it helps us
to keep the patient at the center of everything that we do.
(Lee) I think it makes sure that we are aware of any new changes
in the health care climate,
whether it's new evidence-based practice, new standards,
and that we implement them with a risk-based model,
instead of a reactive model,
to make sure that we are always keeping our patients safe.
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Accreditation brings a value to our patients
in helping us to continually comply with the standards
that lead us closer to our journey of achieving zero harm,
quality and safety every day,
not just in survey preparedness, but in patient preparedness.
One of the things, I think, Joint Commission has helped us achieve
in the more recent years
is engage our leadership in setting the priorities.
The accreditation process and Joint Commission,
I think, really helps our leaders take a pause
and think about what is it that we really here for.
(Jackie) And more recently, our leaders have become much more engaged
in our survey readiness, our patient readiness,
and it keeps the focus of our mission on our patients and the patient care,
and what we need to do to achieve excellent quality and remarkable service.
Because of Joint Commission Hospital Accreditation
of Inova Health System,
the biggest thing that we have to do
that's critically important to our patients
is we have to look at risk in everything that we do.
It's not nine months before survey time, "Oh, my gosh, we need to reevaluate,
we need to change things, we need to look at processes,"
it's every day, every time, every touch.
(Lee) The way that the SAFER Matrix works,
and the way that we look at our processes now
because of Joint Commission accreditation, and the way that they shifted,
the way that they survey us, the way that they look at things,
make sure that we evaluate those risks before they get to the patient,
which, I think, gives the patients the sense, and should give them a sense,
that we're providing them safer care,
that we've evaluated those risks before they touch them,
which I think is the biggest gift that we can give those patients.
I think the most critical part for our patients
in having Joint Commission is that they can realize and understand
they were held to a higher standard.
(Missy) So we've got that backing from a larger organization in accreditation
that allows us to follow those standards
and to prove to the patients that we are doing the best that we can,
based on evidence-based guidelines, it's really quite awesome.
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