All Entries Tagged With: "field review"
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.
