Editor's Note The Joint Commission on December 2 launched two new resources to help healthcare providers reduce readmissions and improve the discharge process. The resources include a new “Speak Up” campaign to “Avoid a Return Trip to the Hospital,” and a “Quick Safety” newsletter. “Speak Up” includes an infographic, animated…

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During the first half of 2015, the Joint Commission’s top “not compliant” survey citations stemmed from Infection Control IC.02.02.01, which relates to reducing the risk of infections associated with medical equipment, devices, and supplies. Surveyors cited critical access hospitals in 60% of the surveys, hospitals in 54%, and office-based surgery…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 17 released its annual report on America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety, which summarizes data on 49 accountability measures reported by more than 3,300 accredited hospitals. For the first time, acute care hospitals were required to meet program criteria in six sets—an increase…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission is recognizing 40 years of accrediting ambulatory healthcare organizations with an online repository featuring photos, testimonials, and interviews with customers, staff, and surveyors. The ambulatory program covers a wide variety of organizations, including ambulatory surgery centers, cath labs, clinics, and imaging centers. Since 1975, the…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are collaborating on an initiative to adapt, enhance, and disseminate CDC infection prevention guidance in a variety of free-standing and ambulatory healthcare settings. The Joint Commission will select and work with 12 outpatient-focused professional organizations and…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare on October 15 released Oro 2.0, an online high reliability assessment and resource library to help hospital leaders determine their organizations’ level of high reliability maturity. The assessment process guides users through a series of questions that allows for discussion and…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission has issued a new Sentinel Event Alert on patient falls. The alert examines the contributing factors to falls and suggests solutions to be implemented by healthcare organizations to help reduce falls and falls with injury. Any patient of any age or physical ability can be…

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Editor's Note Ambulatory surgery centers in California face new regulations and oversight under a new law, which takes effect January 1, 2016. New regulatory requirements include peer-review evaluations every 2 years for physicians and surgeons working in ASCs and unannounced inspections of facilities.   SB 396 makes minor changes to…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission has removed the Life Safety (LS) chapter from the Office-Based Surgery Practices Manual, effective immediately. The revision limits office-based surgery practices to a business occupancy of three or fewer patients at the same time who are rendered incapable of self-preservation in an emergency or are…

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Editor's Note Joint Commission data on 9,119 incidents reviewed from 2004 through the second quarter of 2015 show that 9,384 patients have been affected by adverse events, with 5,383 (57.4%) resulting in death, 847 (9%) in permanent loss of function, and 2,788 (29.6%) in unexpected additional care and/or psychological impact.…

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