Clarification on new standard addressing healthcare equity

New requirements on healthcare equity will be found in Leadership (LD) Standard LD.04.03.08 and will apply to Joint Commission-accredited hospitals, critical access hospitals, ambulatory care organizations, and behavioral healthcare and human services organizations. These will be effective Jan. 1, 2023.

However, applicability is not accurately shown in the fall E-dition® update and print versions of the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Critical Access Hospitals (CAMCAH) and the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (CAMH).

The new standard and elements of performance (EPs) are erroneously not shown as applicable to long-term acute care (LTAC), psychiatric, surgical specialty, and swing bed services on E-dition or in hard-copy or digital versions of the CAMCAH and CAMH, and the EPs are not marked as applicable to those services in the “Standards Applicability Grid” (SAG) chapter of the hardcopy or digital versions of the CAMCAH and CAMH. However, these requirements do apply to all services in the critical access hospital and hospital programs.

Applicability will be revised in the interim winter 2023 E-dition update in February. For those customers who purchase it, the hardcopy spring update of the CAMH will include the revised SAG chapter.

Questions may be directed to the Department of Standards and Survey Methods.