By Brette Tschurtz, MPH, Associate Director, Department of Research
The best time to head off a problem is before you even have one!
The Joint Commission Heads Up Report (HUR) Library is a way to do just that. In the last few weeks, we’ve updated the library with 50 new reports associated with a frequently cited standard or element of performance (EP). These two-page reports span eight accreditation programs. It’s our way of keeping frequently cited standards on your organization’s radar to help avoid a finding. We’ve reorganized the library to categorize by program and topic.
Health care organizations are encouraged to distribute HURs to departments and individuals within their organization responsible for the topics identified so any potential issues or risks can be addressed. Reading about contributing factors to a problem or eventual citation is part of the continuous monitoring and ongoing accreditation activities.
Understanding the HUR
The HUR is separated into four sections:
- Why is this important/scope of the problem: This section highlights why health care organizations should care about the topic, and what standard/EP corresponds to the issue.
- Survey observations and contributing factors: This section identifies specific surveyor observations that led to a citation and what factors may have contributed to the problem.
- How to identify problems in your own organization: This section uses tracer methodology in a checklist format to instruct health care organizations on how to identify potential problems.
- What are some resources that can assist in mitigating risks in these areas: This section identifies additional resources (available in the public domain) that organizations can use to resolve or better understand a specific topic or issue.
Future Updates
Please check back frequently as the library is updated quarterly. Topics are far from randomly chosen. Each report is generated through an extensive vetting process by internal experts and resources include:
- actual survey observations
- contributing factors (when known)
- mini tracer to help organizations evaluate conditions in their own organization
- links to resources on the quality/safety topic
HURs can be found on JC Connect in the Resources and Tools tab.
Brette Tschurtz, MPH, is an Associate Director in the Department of Research in The Joint Commission’s Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation.