The Joint Commission regularly updates its Health Care Equity (HCE) Accreditation Standards & Resource Center and its HCE Certification Resource Center to help organizations meet healthcare equity requirements. The resource centers include:
- Snapshots: Brief synopses of approaches used by other organizations.
- Soundbites: Brief videos of organizations’ lessons learned.
- Strategies: Links to resources such as toolkits, templates and guides.
New resource now available from the HCE Accreditation Standards & Resource Center:
- On Demand Accelerate PI Webinar: Using Data to Identify Disparities Across Patient Groups — This webinar provides helpful information on the stratification of key patient safety and quality data to identify health care disparities. Leaders from the Missouri Hospital Association and University Health in Kansas City, MO, provide tools, resources, and examples to help organizations adopt a data-driven approach to identifying inequities and targeting areas for improvement. Continuing Education (CE) credit is available through Aug. 31.
The following resources are new in the HCE Certification Resource Center:
- Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) Toolkit — This toolkit is an enhancement of previous RED resources and introduces a new RED component on overcoming language barriers related to the discharge process. (Source: AHRQ)
- A spotlight on HealthPartners ‘Mammo A Go-Go’ mobile breast cancer screening unit — Learn how HealthPartners and Park Nicollet Health Services leadership partnered with the Jane Brattain Breast Center and other community organizations to launch this unique mobile mammography unit to bring cancer screening services into the community.
To continue to learn from other organizations engaged in health care equity work, sign up for E-Alerts to be notified when new resources are added to both resource centers.
The new certification program, which launched July 1, is an optional specialty certification designed to ensure that ALCs serving residents who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia are meeting standards that support the delivery of high-quality care in a safe environment. The requirements reflect current scientific evidence and best practices in memory care, align with the Alzheimer’s Association’s (ALZ) Dementia Care Practice Recommendations, and build on existing requirements for The Joint Commission’s ALC Accreditation Program.
The on-demand webinar offers examples for how the requirements would be applied and highlights resources available to assist organizations seeking certification.
Register.
Patient handoffs are a critical transition point. Evidence suggests standardized protocols during handoffs improve communication, teamwork, professionalism, and patient outcomes. However, the factors underpinning adherence to standardized protocols are not well specified.
A new study in the August 2023 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety details the creation and implementation of The Handoffs and Transitions in Critical Care (HATRICC) study at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. HATRICC involved the implementation of a standardized protocol for operating room (OR)-to-intensive care unit (ICU) handoffs. The present study, conducted from 2014-2017 as part of the HATRICC study, used fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to characterize combinations of conditions associated with fidelity to the HATRICC protocol. Conditions were derived from post-intervention handoff observations yielding quantitative and qualitative data.
A total of 50 handoff observations were analyzed. At the individual handoff episode level, four conditions explained high fidelity to the HATRICC protocol:
- Patient was newly admitted to the ICU.
- Presence of an ICU provider.
- Observer ratings of attention-paying by the handoff team.
- Handoff took place in a quiet environment.
While none of the conditions were singly necessary or sufficient for high fidelity, three combinations equated to viable pathways for fidelity to HATRICC protocols:
- Presence of the ICU provider and high attention ratings.
- Newly admitted patient, presence of the ICU provider and quiet environment.
- Newly admitted patient, high attention ratings and quiet environment.
- These three combinations explained 93.5% of the cases demonstrating high fidelity.
Also featured in the August issue are:
- Bringing a Multiteam Systems Perspective to the Perioperative Context: Considerations for Future Research on Perioperative Handoffs (Clemson University, South Carolina)
- So Many Ways to Be Wrong: Completeness and Accuracy in a Prospective Study of OR-to-ICU Handoff Standardization (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia)
- Leveraging the Science of Teamwork to Sustain Handoff Improvements in Cardiovascular Surgery (University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas)
- Improving Handoffs in the Perioperative Environment: A Conceptual Framework of Key Theories, System Factors, Methods, and Core Interventions to Ensure Success (literature review)
- Anesthesiology Patient Handoff Education Interventions: A Systematic Review (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama)
- Perioperative Handoff Enhancement Opportunities Through Technology and Artificial Intelligence: A Narrative Review (literature review)
- Handoff Effectiveness Research in periOperative environments (HERO) Design Studio: A Conference Report (conference report)
- Taking a Resilience Engineering Approach to Perioperative Handoffs (commentary)
Access the Journal.
The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum will accept applications for the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards through Aug. 7. The annual award program recognizes major achievements by individuals and organizations that use innovative approaches to improve patient safety and healthcare quality.
Awards are presented in three categories:
- Individual Achievement
- National Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality
- Local Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality
Through the award program, The Joint Commission and NQF also seek to amplify best practices in patient safety and quality improvement by sharing strategies and tools identified within applications with its network of more than 22,000 healthcare organizations to inspire improvement on a national scale.
Launched in 2002, this award program honors the late John M. Eisenberg, MD, MBA, former administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
For more information and to apply, please visit the Eisenberg Awards webpage. Interested parties may inquire about eligibility and the application process by contacting EisenbergAwards@qualityforum.org.
A new book from Joint Commission Resources tackles the top infection prevention and control (IC) compliance challenge facing hospitals — the effective and safe cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization of reusable surgical instruments and medical devices to mitigate immediate threat to patient health or safety.
The book — The Joint Commission Guide to Reprocessing Reusable Medical Devices — offers step-by-step guidance from Sylvia Garcia-Houchins, MBA, RN, CIC, Director, Infection Prevention and Control, The Joint Commission, an expert on reprocessing. It also:
- Addresses the hierarchy to follow when developing reprocessing policies, procedures, and protocols.
- Covers Joint Commission and Joint Commission International requirements related to reprocessing.
- Identifies what surveyors look for when observing reprocessing activities.
- Includes downloadable and customizable tools and checklists.
Fall is just around the corner, and Joint Commission Resources has all the latest accreditation and certification manuals for 2024 — as well as the latest books, e-books, digital subscriptions, posters and more covering today’s trending topics and issues in healthcare and compliance challenges.
A new publications catalog shows newly available titles and those coming soon, such as:
- The Joint Commission Guide to Reprocessing Reusable Medical Devices
- Toward Health Care Equity: Sensitive Care for a Diverse Patient Population
- IC Made Easy: Your Key to Understanding Infection Prevention and Control, 2nd Edition
- What Your Board Needs to Know About Quality and Patient Safety: A Joint Commission Guide
- Infection Prevention and Control Issues in the Environment of Care, 5th edition
- Documentation of Care, Treatment, or Services in Behavioral Health Care and Human Services, 2nd Edition
Check out the catalog or learn more on JCR’s website.