Massachusetts is the first U.S. state in which all hospitals have taken the meaningful step to close health disparities by meeting The Joint Commission’s new healthcare equity accreditation standard. To further the state’s commitment to health equity, these hospitals plan to achieve The Joint Commission’s Health Care Equity Certification by 2025.
In 2023, The Joint Commission introduced a new accreditation standard with six requirements for hospitals across the nation to meet – demonstrating that reducing health disparities is a quality and safety priority. Over the past year, Massachusetts acute care hospitals were evaluated for adherence to these comprehensive healthcare equity accreditation requirements, and every hospital was determined to operate in accordance with them.
“This recognition is a testament to our healthcare community’s commitment to set a national standard when it comes to what accessible, culturally competent patient care looks like,” said Izzy Lopes, vice president of health equity at the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA). “We applaud our hospitals and caregivers for their tireless work to meaningfully anchor health equity into everything they do. And we are especially grateful for the Executive Office of Health & Human Services’ leadership and collaboration in shaping the historic 1115 Medicaid Waiver that made this accomplishment possible.”
The Joint Commission distinction is one element of the commonwealth’s groundbreaking 1115 Medicaid Waiver, which empowers hospitals to embed health equity efforts at the point of care, make services more accessible for patients, and reduce persistent disparities. This historic commitment was led by the state’s Executive Office of Health & Human Services that worked extensively with Massachusetts hospitals to establish concrete health equity goals and establish processes to better understand and care for all patient populations.
“We commend the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association for taking a leadership role to help all patients across its state receive equitable care,” said Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, MACP, FACMI, president and chief executive officer at The Joint Commission enterprise. “The historic decision to embed healthcare equity efforts across every hospital in the state will have a profound impact in reducing health disparities. The Joint Commission looks forward to continued collaboration with the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association to translate equitable healthcare into better health outcomes. We hope other states look to Massachusetts’ example to make equity a top patient safety and quality priority.”
To learn more about The Joint Commission’s healthcare equity accreditation standard, visit the Health Care Equity Accreditation Resource Center.
Learn more about MHA and its partners’ commitment to health equity here.
Joint Commission enterprise President and CEO, Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, MACP, FACMI, is a contributing author to a Nature Medicine article, “To do no harm – and the most good – with AI in health care.” The article draws from real-life scenarios and insights shared at the RAISE (Responsible AI for Social and Ethical Healthcare) conference and highlights the critical need for AI in health care (AIH) to primarily benefit patients and address current shortcomings in health care systems such as medical errors and access disparities.
The conference, embodying a sense of responsibility and urgency, emphasized that AIH should enhance patient care, support health care professionals, and be accessible and safe for all. The discussions revolved around:
- Immediate actions for health care leaders, such as adopting AI to augment clinical practice, establishing transparent financial models, and guiding optimal AI use.
- The importance of AI as a complementary tool rather than as a replacement in health care
- The necessity of responsible patient data usage
- The potential of AIH in improving access to care were stressed.
- The financial aspects of AIH, advocating for models that align with care improvement.
In January, The Joint Commission launched a Responsible Use of Health Data™ (RUHD™) certification program for U.S. hospitals, to provide guidance and recognize healthcare organizations navigating the appropriate sensitivities needed to safely use data for purposes beyond clinical care.
The deadlines for accredited acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, and freestanding psychiatric hospitals to submit calendar year (CY) 2023 ORYX® performance measure data via The Joint Commission’s Direct Data Submission Platform (DDSP) are fast approaching.
Electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) and chart-abstracted deadlines:
- For organizations required or electing to submit eCQMs must upload, verify, and submit all four quarters (i.e., CY2023) is March 15, 2024.
- For organizations required or electing to submit chart-abstracted measure data must enter and submit their CY 2023 data for fourth quarter of 2023 (i.e., 4Q2023) is March 31, 2024.
Here are some reminders for submitting data:
- Organizations are strongly encouraged to enter or submit their data well in advance of the deadline in order to have time to resolve any unexpected issues.
- Organizational staff with access to the DDSP should verify that data is submitted and download the submission report. See the DDSP “Need Help?” topic: Verifying Data Submission & ORYX Requirements
- Organizations can visit The Joint Commission’s Performance Measurement page to review which requirements are applicable to their organization and the list of available measures.
For those who need assistance or have questions regarding the platform, submit a support ticket via the DDSP “Need Help?” button. For non-DDSP questions, contact hcooryx@jointcommission.org and include the organization’s HCO ID in the subject line.
Beginning with CY2023 chart-abstracted measure data, The Joint Commission has implemented a resubmission capability on the Direct Data Submission Platform (DDSP) that allows organizations to resubmit incorrectly entered or incorrectly omitted measure data so feedback/public reporting is accurate and reflective of the organization’s performance.
Additionally:
- Resubmission of data allows The Joint Commission to use the most complete and accurate data possible in our analysis of the performance measures provided by a healthcare organization. This includes ensuring we calculate the most accurate comparative rates (e.g., national, state).
- Organizations may share their performance measurement data Joint Commission Dashboard Reports with other entities that desire performance measurement data. Therefore, allowing resubmission of data offers the opportunity for healthcare organizations to ensure their data is as complete and accurate as possible.
The Joint Commission believes that performance measures are essential to the credibility of any health care organization, and as such, includes submission of performance measurement data as a condition of participation for accreditation with The Joint Commission.
For more information on this topic, visit The Joint Commission’s Performance Measurement page to access the ORYX FAQs.
The calendar year (CY) 2024 Direct Data Submission Platform (DDSP) is open for data entry of 1Q2024 chart-abstracted measures for January.
Please visit The Joint Commission’s Measurement Resources webpage to see the ORYX® performance measurement timeline for (CY) 2024; timelines are available under the Supporting Materials section.