Editor's Note Joint Commission Resources on January 17 released the 2018 Hospital Compliance Assessment Checklist, a self-assessment workbook designed to help organizations with standards compliance and survey readiness. In addition to hospital standards and elements of performance (EP), this year’s Checklist includes: High-level prompts to promote staff discussion and cultivate…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on January 10 announced that three new requirements for maternal status assessment and documentation will become effective July 1, 2018, for accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals that offer obstetric services, specifically labor and delivery. The new requirements were designed to: Document or assess the…

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Editor's Note Joint Commission Resources announced on January 3 the release of two new publications to help organizations comply with requirements for accreditation. “Medical Staff Essentials” breaks down difficult concepts in the Medical Staff (MS) standards. “Root Cause Analysis in Health Care: Tools and Techniques” provides a systematic approach to…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on January 3 announced that it is no longer requiring hospitals, critical access hospitals, or ambulatory care organizations to credential and privilege pathologists who provide diagnostic services through independent reference (contract) laboratories. The Joint Commission says accredited organizations can safely presume that pathologists who work…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on December 20, 2017, posted new and revised standards that go into effect in January 2018. Included are: Life Safety Code revisions that address topics such as testing of emergency lighting systems and inspection and testing of piped medical gas and vacuum systems. Medication Management…

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When Medicare and Medicaid legislation was passed and signed into law in 1965, the US Congress formed the precursor federal agency to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to write the rules and regulations spelling out the “Conditions of Participation” (CoPs) required to obtain federal funding under these…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on December 12 posted its summary of changes to accreditation and certification decision rules for all programs for 2018. Changes include initial accreditation, reaccreditation, and certification. The decision rules are effective for surveys and reviews beginning January 1, 2018.   Joint Commission requirement. Read More…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on December 6 announced that revisions are continuing to be made to the Life Safety (LS) and Environment of Care (EC) chapters of its accreditation manuals. The revisions are a result of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ adoption of the 2012 editions of…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 29 announced a new software tool, “Tracers with AMPTM plus CMS,” to help hospitals and critical access hospitals manage their Joint Commission accreditation and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) compliance efforts. The tool is a web-based platform that stores a hospital’s…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission has selected Chicago-based Apervita’s platform to enable thousands of hospitals with ORYX data reporting requirement to directly submit electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) data in 2018, the November 14 Healthcare Informatics reports. Since the shift to eCQM data submission began 2 years ago, the Joint…

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