R3 Report Issue 41: New and Revised Requirements for Infection Prevention and Control for Critical Access Hospitals and Hospitals
New and Revised Requirements for Infection Prevention and Control for Critical Access Hospitals and Hospitals
Effective July 1, 2024, The Joint Commission approved new and revised requirements for the “Infection Prevention and Control” (IC) chapter for critical access hospitals and hospitals. The IC chapter underwent a full rewrite and will replace the current IC chapter for both accreditation programs.
In keeping with the ongoing initiative to simplify requirements and provide more meaningful evaluations of hospitals, The Joint Commission simplified the content and structure of the IC chapter and eliminated requirements that do not add value to accreditation surveys. The new and revised requirements focus on the structures that are essential to support quality and safety and identify a framework for a strong infection prevention and control program, while aligning requirements more closely to law and regulation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Conditions of Participation (CoPs), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices for Safe Healthcare Delivery in All Settings.
After a review of the literature and consultation with a technical advisory panel, The Joint Commission decided to introduce new Standard IC.07.01.01 and two new elements of performance (EPs) to enhance hospitals’ and critical access hospitals’ preparedness for high-consequence infectious diseases or special pathogens. The recent history of infectious disease outbreaks, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), H1N1 influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Ebola, and the COVID-19 pandemic, has clearly demonstrated that emerging infectious diseases pose a real threat to human health and can cause significant disruptions in health care delivery systems on local, national, and global scales. A standardized approach to preparedness for high-consequence infectious diseases or special pathogens is intended for emergency care areas but would also serve to strengthen basic infection control protocols and processes for routine, non–special pathogen infectious agents.