Archive for June, 2009

AHAP members: Working group call update!

AHAP members: Summer has arrived, and it’s time for our latest AHAP Working Group Calls. This quarter we’re focusing on Joint Commission Stroke Certification, and we’d like to invite you to join us on one of our two upcoming conference calls.

This time, we’re excited to announce two new guest facilitators who will each take part in one of the upcoming calls. First we have Dean Pearson RN, BSN, CSHA, healthcare accreditation coordinator at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, who will join us at 1 p.m. EST on June 30th. Next we’ll be joined by Deborah L. Bergman, MS, RN, FNP-BC, nurse practitioner with the stroke program/neurology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, who will join us on July 8th at 1 p.m. EST.

Working groups are FREE to AHAP members but SPACE is LIMITED; I encourage you to sign up for your first choice now. We have a limited number of lines for this conference call. Therefore, we can only provide one phone line for each facility.

These calls last about an hour and are free; we just ask that you answer a few questions (below) related to our working group topic in preparation for the call. To RSVP, please email your completed questionnaire (below) and preferred date (and 2nd choice) to skearns@hcpro.com. Remember, SPACE IS LIMITED. We require all questions to be submitted before your RSVP is confirmed. Once you have sent us your questionnaire, we will send you a confirmation email.
Interested in participating in a working group on another topic? Please send your topic ideas for future working groups to the same email.

Please take a few minutes to answer the following questions and submit with your RSVP. We’ll use these questionnaires to prompt discussion during the working group call.

Name:
Title:
Facility:
City, State:
Email:

PREFERRED WORKING GROUP (please designate a first and second choice)

• Tuesday, June 30th, 2009, 1 p.m. EST with Dean Pearson
• Wednesday, July 8th, 2009, 1 p.m. EST with Deborah Bergman

Are you currently a certified stroke center?
If no, are you in the process of applying to become a certified stroke center?
If yes, what was your biggest obstacle in becoming a certified stroke center?
If yes, how has becoming a certified stroke center impacted your facility?

*Members are invited to submit forms or tools with this form. We will compile all tools and provide to AHAP members.

We’re looking forward to an active, lively discussion both days. Hope you can join us! To sign up, email Sarah Kearns at skearns@hcpro.com, and if you have any questions about the calls themselves, please feel free to contact me at mphillion@hcpro.com. Looking forward to speaking with you!

New benchmarking survey launched!

We’d like to invite you to participate in this quarter’s benchmarking survey here. This quarter, we’re discussing Joint Commission stroke certification. This will also be the topic for our upcoming quarterly working group calls.  Keep an eye on the blog for an upcoming announcement about dates, times, and special guest speakers for the calls.

Joint Commission asking for more input on standards

If you’ve got any opinions or concerns about the Joint Commission’s proposed staffing effectiveness requirements, you’ve got about five weeks to make your voice heard. Field review of the proposed Elements of Performance (EP) for hospitals and long-term care facilities is underway, with the Joint asking for comments to be submitted by July 10 (although the field review will remain open until July 22).

The changes are in response to complaints that compliance with the current staffing effectiveness requirements (standard PI.04.01.01 for hospitals and HR.1.30 for long-term care) consumes substantial resources without providing significant improvement in quality and patient safety. The proposed EPs fall under PI.02.01.01 (currently PI.2.10 for LTC) and are as follows:

• EP 12 focuses on the use of outcomes data to guide staffing effectiveness analysis
• EP 13 calls for leadership to review analyses of data related to staffing issues

Click here to review and comment on the proposed EPs.

Joint Commission requests feedback on cultural, communication standards

The Joint Commission asked yesterday for review from the field of its newly released proposed standards in effective communication, cultural competence, and patient-centered care. The standards, which would not be implemented until January 2011 at the earliest, represent an effort by The Joint Commission to place a greater emphasis on addressing disparities in care for certain patient populations. The standards also recognize how important solid communication is to delivering safe patient care, and that often communication can be ineffective with patients who face language, cultural, or physically debilitating barriers.

For the most part, the ideas behind these proposed standards are not completely new to The Joint Commission. There are existing standards that target the need for effective communication, patient-centered care, and cultural sensitivity. However, this will be the first time that these are specifically called out as an area of focus. The proposed standards encompass revisions and additions to 17 chapters for hospitals.

The proposed revisions can be found on The Joint Commission’s Web site.

Seems to me that this is more positive change coming from The Joint Commission. What are your thoughts? Do more standards not always mean good things? In this case, I think it will be a welcome addition to the existing standards.

Check out this HealthLeaders Media article on the topic as well, it provides some more detail, and is written by AHAP’s own Matt Phillion!

Joint Commission says 2010 NPSGs to be published in October

In its June issue of The Joint Commissions Perspectives, the official newsletter of The Joint Commission, the accrediting body says that it will not publish its National Patient Safety Goals applicable for January 2010 until its October issue of Perspectives. Although the NPSGs applicable for January of the following year are usually published in the July issue of Perspectives of the prior year, the NPSGs are currently undergoing a field review that will result in significant revisions. The review is not expected to be completed until early summer 2009.

The Joint Commission has stated that no new NPSGs will be released for 2010, only modifications to existing NPSGs. It is also asking for comment from the field about the proposed set of NPSGs. You can comment on its Web site through June 23.

Does this timeline affect your survey preparation schedule? Hopefully this time will be used well to create a less cumbersome set of requirements that still focuses on key patient safety issues.