The Joint Commission has recently published a list of the most compliance standards that were most challenging for hospitals to meet in 2023, tweaked its hospital survey process and named an inaugural "president's fellow."
Editor's note: This list will be updated throughout the year.
Five moves from The Joint Commission Becker's has covered since March 15:
1. In 2023, managing infection prevention and control during disinfection and sterilization activities was the most challenging compliance standard for hospitals. See the top five requirements hospitals were most frequently out of compliance with last year here.
2. On March 27, the accrediting body announced an update to how infection prevention and control, and medication management systems are evaluated during hospital surveys. Effective May 1, surveyors will assess these processes during individual tracer sessions rather than evaluating them in a meeting format.
3. The Joint Commission has published a simplified breakdown of eight patient safety goals for hospitals in 2024, which include identifying patients correctly, improving staff communication and medication safety.
4. Several changes to elements of performance for hospitals will take effect July 1, including one that covers the handling of medical waste. Previously, The Joint Commission required hospitals to have procedures in place for the routine storage and prompt disposal of trash, with the standard revised to also include medical waste.
5. The Joint Commission has named Carla Pugh, MD, PhD, as its inaugural "president's fellow" — a newly created role that reports directly to Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO of the organization. Dr. Pugh is a professor of surgery at Stanford (Calif.) School of Medicine.
Feb. 13 to March 11:
1. Four hospitals within Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health system are the first in the nation to earn The Joint Commission's newly launched sustainable healthcare certification, the group announced March 6.
2. A recent study published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety found hospital staff experience 1.17 verbal and/or physical aggressive events for every 40 hours worked. Read more of the key findings here.
3. Massachusetts is the first state in the nation where all hospitals are meeting a health equity accreditation standard The Joint Commission introduced last year, the organization announced Feb. 26. Achieving the standard is the first step to obtain The Joint Commission's recently launched health equity certification, which all of the state's hospitals plan to earn by 2025.
4. On Feb. 13, the accrediting body and the National Quality Forum announced the winners of the annual John M. Eisenberg awards. The national award went to the Veterans Health Administration for a surgical pause initiative that reduced six-month mortality of patients determined to be frail from 25% to 8%.
Jan. 1 to Feb. 7:
1. CMS has renewed The Joint Commission's authority to accredit home infusion services.The renewal is effective through Dec. 15, 2029.
2. Eight hospitals have earned the new health equity certification, the accrediting body confirmed to Becker's on Feb. 2. To earn the certification, hospitals must make "healthcare equity a strategic priority and collaborate with patients, families, caregivers and external organizations to identify and address needs that help translate equitable healthcare into better health outcomes," according to the group's president and CEO, Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD.
3. The Joint Commission on Feb. 1 also published new guidelines for total hip and knee replacements. The move is part of broader, ongoing revisions and will take effect July 1. Recommendations to include evaluation of risk factors before surgery, including a patient's risk of opioid use history, are among the changes.
4. In late January, the group issued updated guidelines for emergency management and ambulatory care; they will become effective July 1. The Joint Commission rewrote the chapter on emergency management, which marks a 40% cut in the elements of performance it previously used to measure success in this area.
5. The Joint Commission removed 70% of performance elements for infection control accreditation, which will take effect July 1. Waste reduction and responding to an influx of infectious patients were two elements that will be removed since they are covered by other emergency management techniques.