Archive for September, 2008
CMS approves DNV application to accredit hospitals
Hello, everyone. I just wanted to update you on a developing story:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Friday the approval of DNV Healthcare, Inc. as a deeming authority for U.S. hospitals. DNV is the first new organization to receive deeming authority for hospitals in more than 30 years.
According to the pre-Federal Register announcement, DNV was recognized “as a national accreditation program for hospitals seeking to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs” effective September 26, 2008 through September 26, 2012.
“We’re coming into this business not just as another option,” says Yehuda Dror, president of DNV Healthcare. “We want to take a leadership position.”
“I think a lot of people will explore the possibility,” says Bud Pate, REHS, is Vice President for Content and Development for The Greeley Company; a division of HCPro, Inc. “There are some hurdles that people will need to walk through—since DNV is new they’re going to need to work through some residency issues, contract issues, that may exist and may mention The Joint Commission but none of these are insurmountable.”
DNV has crafted a system intended to combine CMS Conditions of Participation (CoP) with ISO 9001 quality management. This program, called the National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations or NIAHO(SM), was created to make the accreditation process more streamlined as well as identify means for improving current standards and promoting continual improvement.
“The ISO-9001 certification seems to be a logical progression to the focus on quality assurance and quality improvement that has occurred in healthcare, primarily in hospitals,” says Larry Poniatowski, RN, BSN, CSHA, principal consultant for Accreditation Compliance Services with The University HealthSystem Consortium. “The issue here now will be to see how well it’s embraced by hospitals.”
Twenty seven U.S. hospitals in 22 states have been accredited by DNV Healthcare using the NIAHO(SM) program in addition to other accreditation services.
In mid-2007, DNV Healthcare acquired Cincinnati-based TUV Healthcare Specialists with the belief that the acquisition would help cement DNV’s application to CMS. In 2006, TUV had unsuccessfully applied for deeming authority.
DNV Healthcare is a division of Houston-based DNV USA, a subsidiary of the Norwegian company Det Norske Veritas. DNV focuses on risk management and training in several industries, including healthcare.
We’ll be providing additional coverage here on the blog as well as in Briefings on The Joint Commission in the upcoming issue.
What is your sense of DNV’s chances? Is your facility considering looking into moving away from Joint Commission accreditation? Are you interested in further details on how DNV’s process works?
Joint Commission continues its focus on anticoagulants
The Joint Commission released today its latest Sentinel Event Alert targeting anticoagulant use and medical errors, the fourth alert this year. There have been a number of high-profile medical errors involving anticoagulants in the national media, and The Joint Commission’s alert is intended to offer methods for preventing further errors.
This is not the first time The Joint Commission has targeted anticoagulants. Requirements introduced into the 2008 National Patient Safety Goals are set to hit the point of full implementation on January 1, 2009. The Joint Commission also addresses anticoagulants under the medication management standards.
Common factors in anticoagulant errors highlighted in The Joint Commission’s report include labeling and packaging issues, documentation errors, communication failures, an inappropriate use of medication.
The alert offers fifteen steps to error prevention, including
-An assessment of the risks involved in using anticoagulants like heparin and warfarin
-Use of best practices or evidence-based guidelines to prevent errors using anticoagulants
-Reassessment of labeling and storing of anticoagulants to avoid errors
-Greater communication and collaboration between staff members
-More extensive education for patients
For more information or to view the Sentinel Event Alert itself, go to The Joint Commission’s Web site here.
Executive Briefings debriefing, New York edition (#1)
Hello, everyone. I’ve just returned from the New York Executive Briefings. There weren’t any bombshells dropped this year by any of the presenters, who focused on the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG), problematic standards, the new e-dition of the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals, and lastly gave an overview of the new scoring methodology.
Audience questions this year focused unsurprisingly on medication reconciliation, which continues to be a struggle for hospitals across the country. Universal Protocol was also a focal point during question and answer sessions.
Dr. Peter Angood said that The Joint Commission does not intend at this point to add any new NPSGs in 2009, though revisions are to be expected—and remember, just a few months ago we saw the release of the 2008 NPSGs that, though they did not contain any brand new Goals, did contain significant changes and left much work to do.
An important note on Periodic Performance Review (PPR): If your facility is due to submit a PPR before October, 2008, there are no changes. After October, PPR is optional for this year because of the numbering changes in the manual. If you choose to submit a PPR, though, it will need to be done before December 1 because The Joint Commission’s PPR tool will be offline.
If your PPR is due in January, you will have an extra 90 days to submit it. If due in February or March, you have an extra 60 days to submit it.
Was anyone else in attendance on Friday? What observations did you take away from the New York Executive Briefings?
I’ll be posting additional observations over the next few days, so please check back.
News from Executive Briefings: "D"s Will Not Change
Just wanted to share this posting from Bud Pate, REHS, Vice President of Content and Development for The Greeley Company. Bud is currently attending Executive Briefings in Los Angeles.
Although there may be some errors, the “D”s [indicating that documentation is required] for the new standards will remain as written in the current version of the manual according to Dr. Robert Wise, Vice President for the Division of Standards and Survey Methods for the Joint Commission. Although he acknowledges that there may be errors, Dr. Wise committed that, until they change, documentation is not required unless there is a Circle D logo in the accreditation manual.
Stay tuned for more.
Matt Phillion, Senior Managing Editor of Briefings on The Joint Commission, will be reporting back from the New York Executive Briefings.
