The Joint Commission to replace PNC Certification with ACPC program

Editor's Note

The Joint Commission on August 10 announced that it will collaborate with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to offer Advanced Certification in Perinatal Care (ACPC) to accredited and nonaccredited hospitals and critical access hospitals with perinatal care programs, beginning January 1, 2023.

The Joint Commission currently certifies perinatal care programs in about 60 healthcare organizations through its Perinatal Care (PNC) Certification, which will be replaced with the ACPC program.

The ACPC program encompasses all pregnancies while focusing on high-risk areas for maternal morbidity and mortality, and it ensures that organizations provide care from the prenatal through the postpartum periods.

Organizations may apply for certification if they meet eligibility requirements that include having a minimum of 40 deliveries per year and compliance with the measure threshold criteria for performance rates on:

• PC-02: Cesarean birth—threshold set at fewer than or equal to 30%
• PC-06.1: Unexpected complications in term newborns—(severe rate only) with threshold set at 50 complications per 1,000 live births (a rate of 5%).

No fewer than 4 months of data for all PC [Perinatal Care] core measures must be available at the initial certification review; 24 months of data are required for recertification.