Hurry up and wait for The Joint Commission at the 39-month mark

There’s been a lot of discussion (almost reaching the level of consternation, I dare say) in various forums about The Joint Commission’s survey schedule for this year, and it does appear that visits from our esteemed Chicago friends are in many instances sliding past the triennial survey anniversaries (and not even a card!).

The reasons for this are likely to remain shrouded in mist, but I can say, at least for a few hospitals in Massachusetts, that survey days were added for this go-round (i.e., three-day surveys became four days, four-day surveys became five). This all may have resulted in something of a scheduling crunch.

At any rate, the “deal” that is supposedly in place between The Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is that there is a survey window of 18-39 months between surveys, and it does sound like there’s been a fair amount of activity at the 39-month mark.

There were at least a couple of hospitals last year that experienced surveys beyond the 39-month mark (one was surveyed at 42 months after their last survey and had to endure a survey that bridged a weekend), though I suspect that was more a function of them being so late for their survey.

So, don’t hold your breath if surveyors haven’t come yet. They’ll be back … eventually!