2025 survey enhancements: Survey report redesign

Starting in January 2025, all Joint Commission-accredited, -certified, and -verified healthcare organizations will receive an enhanced survey report after any survey. (Note: In this article, the term survey refers to accreditation surveys and survey reports, as well as certification and verification reviews and review reports.)

This redesigned survey report is in a more user-friendly format, helping organizations better understand and address their survey findings. Key features of the newly redesigned survey report include:

• Survey findings organized by placement on the Survey Analysis for Evaluating Risk^® (SAFER^®) Matrix, with high-risk and/or widespread findings listed first.
• Clear identification of which survey findings will be addressed during each follow-up activity (if applicable).
• Brief descriptions (short names) of standards and elements of performance (EPs) to more easily understand their intent (the next issue of Joint Commission Online will include an article about short names).
• For organizations using The Joint Commission for deemed status purposes, clearer identification of the level of deficiency associated with Medicare requirements (Conditions of Participation [CoPs], Conditions for Coverage [CfCs], and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 [CLIA ’88]).
• An executive summary, which is a concise overview of survey findings and follow-up actions, all in one place (see the following figure for an example).

The redesigned report applies to all accreditation, certification, and verification programs for all types of surveys. Also, the survey report has been enhanced for both the preliminary report and the final accreditation and certification reports. In addition to the highlighted changes, the preliminary report will no longer be removed at midnight on the last day of survey; it will remain available to organizations until the final survey report is posted.

Organizations will continue to access their preliminary and final accreditation, certification, and verification reports via their Joint Commission Connect^® extranet site.