Editor's Note The Joint Commission on June 22 announced a new “R3 Report—Issue 36: New Requirements to Reduce Health Care Disparities,” which examines the rationale and references behind new and revised requirements to reduce healthcare disparities in accredited organizations, effective January 1, 2023. Among the new and revised requirements: A…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on June 22 announced a new “R3 Report—Issue 35: New and Revised Requirements for Antibiotic Stewardship,” which details the rationale and references behind new and revised requirements to optimize the use of antibiotics, effective January 1, 2023. The requirements include 12 new and revised elements…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on June 15 that it is seeking comments on proposed Emergency Management (EM) chapter requirements related to surge management for its hospital and critical access hospital accreditation programs. Since approval of the new, revised EM standards, which are effective July 1, experts in the…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on June 15 that refreshed Accelerate PI™ Dashboard Reports are available for primary stroke centers (PSCs) and comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs) to provide updated performance measurement data on quality measures selected for advanced certification. The reports, which contain data through the fourth quarter of…

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Editor's Note On June 14, The Joint Commission issued a new Quick Safety report to provide guidance for managing and storing packaged sterile supplies. Organizations must identify the best location to store supplies so staff can readily access them, and ensure the supplies are being stocked to the most optimal…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission reported on June 1 that a new independent study of 161 Joint Commission-accredited ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) finds that for each dollar invested in accreditation, an organization has that dollar returned along with an additional $6.28 in benefits. Key areas of financial return include: Revenue,…

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Editor's Note National Time Out Day, June 8, draws attention to the need for everyone on the surgical team to pause before a surgical procedure begins to make sure they are doing the right procedure on the right patient at the right site. AORN created the National Time Out Day…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on May 25 announced that refreshed Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports are available for accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals to provide updated performance measurement data on a select subset of quality measures. The Interim ORYX reports contain data through the second quarter of 2021, and…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on May 18, posted a reminder for organizations to submit applications for the Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Health Equity, an award program in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, by June 30 at 11:59 pm CT. The Award, named in honor…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on May 11, announced that surveyors and reviewers will remain masked, adhere to social distancing, and follow other Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines while onsite at an organization. The Joint Commission asks that healthcare workers (HCWs) and organization staff also remain masked while…

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