Coming soon: Revisions to CAH requirements to align with CMS final rule

The Joint Commission added several new and revised elements of performance (EPs) for critical access hospitals (CAHs) that primarily address restraint and seclusion, the complaint process, and unified and integrated structures for critical access hospitals that are part of a multihospital system.

These changes — which are effective June 1 — are to align with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rule that published in the Federal Register in November 2022. They will appear in the Information Management (IM), Leadership (LD), Medical Staff (MS), Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services (PC), and Rights and Responsibilities of the Individual (RI) chapters. However, until these new and revised EPs are incorporated into their appropriate chapters in Joint Commission survey technology, findings, along with the applicable Conditions of Participation (CoP) requirements, will be scored at standard LD.04.01.01, EP 2, until the fall interim standards release on Aug. 27.

View the prepublication standards. For questions regarding these revisions, please contact the Department of Standards and Survey Methods.