The Joint Commission has created a Health Care Equity Resource Center that will help organizations monitor their progress toward health care equity.
In January 2023, our new Health Care Equity accreditation requirements will go into effect for hospitals, critical access hospitals, and some segments of ambulatory care and behavioral health care and human services organizations. These new requirements recognize that health care organizations need established leaders and standardized structures and processes to detect and address health care disparities.
The resources include:
- Strategies: Links to resources such as toolkits, templates, and guides
- Soundbites: Brief videos or organizations’ lessons learned
- Snapshots: Brief synopses of approaches used by organizations
- Evidence-based interventions
This is just the beginning, and more resources will be added in the coming months. The Joint Commission looks forward to learning from organizations that are making advances, sharing their stories, and being partners with them on this journey to create a more equitable health care system.
Visit the Health Care Equity Resource Center.
Pre-applications are being accepted for Advanced Certification in Perinatal Care (ACPC), a new certification program from The Joint Commission in collaboration with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The certification program will be available to Joint Commission-accredited, non-Joint Commission accredited, and nonaccredited hospitals and critical access hospitals with perinatal care programs beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
ACPC will replace The Joint Commission’s current Perinatal Care Certification (PNC) and hospitals can indicate their commitment now to pursue the certification and enter the queue for reviews beginning in 2023.
The new certification incorporates the latest research, evidence-based practices and guidance to assist with improving quality and safety in perinatal care settings. A Technical Advisory Panel of clinical experts helped develop it.
ACPC reaches beyond PNC to encompass all pregnancies while focusing on high-risk areas for maternal morbidity and mortality such as mental health disorders, substance use disorders, time of treatment for severe hypertension after diagnosis, safe practices for cesarean sections, and working towards reducing health-related social needs.
The new certification supports the enhancement of integrated, coordinated and patient-centered care that begins with prenatal care and continues through postpartum care. Components of the new program include:
- Conducting tracer activities during the on-site review.
- Evaluating consistent communication and effective collaboration among all healthcare professionals involved in the care of pregnant or postpartum patients and newborns.
- Demonstrating the application of and compliance with clinical practice guidelines or evidence-based practices, including from ACOG and other national organizations.
- Collecting data on Perinatal Care program measures.
Hospitals may apply for the certification if they meet general eligibility requirements, including recording a minimum of 40 deliveries per year and complying with measure thresholds for applicable measures.
Starting Jan. 1, 2023, The Joint Commission will resume intracycle calls for the Disease-Specific Care (DSC) and Health Care Staffing Services (HCSS) certification programs.
These calls were suspended in 2021 because of the backlog caused by the pandemic. The intracycle evaluation process requires programs to update their intracycle tabs in the Certification Measure Information Process (CMIP) tool and participate in an intracycle call with a Joint Commission reviewer.
DSC- and HCSS-certified programs that were reviewed after Jan. 1, 2022, should expect and are required to participate in an intracycle call in 2023 as part of their intracycle evaluation process:
- When: An intracycle call is conducted in the 12th or 13th month of the two-year certification cycle as a midpoint check-in with a Joint Commission reviewer.
- What: Its purpose is to discuss any changes in the program, performance improvement initiatives and performance measurement data.
- Who: In the 12th or 13th month of the program’s certification cycle, a Joint Commission reviewer will contact the individual listed in Tab 8 (Intracycle Conference Call) of CMIP by email or phone to set up a date and time for the intracycle call; a meeting invitation will then be sent for the actual call.
- How: The program contact may then forward the meeting invitation to identified staff who should participate in the intracycle call. Please note that cameras are expected to be on during the call, and the date and time for the intracycle call are not posted on the organization’s Joint Commission Connect® extranet site.
Questions may be directed to your account executive.
FirstLight Home Care has named The Joint Commission as its national provider of accreditation and certification services. Through the collaboration, The Joint Commission will help FirstLight Home Care advance quality improvement and safety activities for local clients and their families.
FirstLight Home Care locations will have access to The Joint Commission’s survey readiness resources, decision support options, and business intelligence tools.
To achieve Joint Commission accreditation, each FirstLight Home Care location that pursues accreditation must undergo an on-site survey to evaluate its compliance with Joint Commission standards and requirements. This survey assesses the location’s performance in specific areas to help locations provide client care and services in a safe manner. The survey process provides education and guidance to help staff continue to improve performance.
“Joint Commission accreditation is the Gold Seal of Approval when it comes to quality safety protocols and standards,” said Kerri Pendley, Vice President of Strategy for FirstLight Home Care. “We see this as valuable for the FirstLight brand as a whole. It ensures that we as an organization remain committed to a higher standard of service delivery and to continually improving care in the home. Obtaining accreditation means our franchisees hold themselves accountable to those standards for their business, their clients, and the communities they serve.”
The Joint Commission accredits more than 5,000 programs that provide home care services. The Joint Commission’s accreditation and certification process helps healthcare organizations achieve and sustain standardized performance excellence.
“The Joint Commission looks forward to working with FirstLight Home Care to help its locations across the nation achieve and sustain standardized performance excellence through accreditation and certification,” said Brian Enochs, JD, Executive Vice President, Business Development and Marketing, The Joint Commission. “As more patients and their families seek home care services, it is critical that safe and high-quality care is provided within the home. Accreditation and certification are a pathway to help FirstLight Home Care locations establish the processes and policies to do so.”
The Joint Commission’s Home Care Accreditation program, established in 1988, accredits programs that provide home care, hospice, personal care and support, pharmacy, home infusion, and durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) services. Additionally, The Joint Commission’s Community-Based Palliative Care Certification program is available to organizations that provide home health or hospice services.
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, new and revised requirements to reduce healthcare disparities will apply to Joint Commission-accredited hospitals, critical access hospitals, ambulatory healthcare organizations, and behavioral healthcare and human services organizations.
A new, free on-demand webinar introduces and provides examples addressing the new and revised requirements. Additionally, this session will demonstrate where to locate resources available to assist your organization’s healthcare equity efforts. We encourage our accredited organizations to share this information with employees throughout their organizations to widely educate on these important health care equity requirements and resources.
The webinar also offers one Continuing Education (CE) credit until Nov. 30 for those who:
- Individually register for the on-demand webinar.
- Complete the on-demand webinar in its entirety.
- Complete a post-program evaluation/attestation survey. The program evaluation/attestation survey link will be displayed after the recording finishes.