Joint Commission
Facts about Hospital Accreditation
We are all familiar with the accreditation process offered through The Joint Commission (JC), but the article I read this week had some interesting facts not found in our textbooks. For instance, approximately 91% of the nation’s hospitals are currently accredited by JC. This includes 4,250 general, children's, long-term acute, psychiatric, rehabilitation & surgery specialty hospitals, as well as 358 critical access hospitals.
After entering this program, I became familiar with JC, but was never fully aware of the eligibility requirements that hospitals must meet in order to apply for accreditation. For instance, an organization must:
- Be in the U.S. or its territories or, if outside the U.S., is operated by the U.S. Government under a charter of the U.S. Congress
- Accesses & improves the quality of its services
- Identifies the services it provides, indicating which services it provides directly, under contract, or through some other arrangement
- Provides services addressed by The Joint Commission’s standards
We have all heard how strict JC was, but I was never familiar with all the requirements an organization must meet in order to apply.
We are all familiar with some benefits that JC accreditation can provide for an organization such as providing a competitive edge in the marketplace, deemed status for Medicare certification, fulfillment of regulatory requirements in some states, among others. Besides the obvious, there were several benefits mentioned in this article that I was not aware of. For instance, hospitals seek to be JC accredited because it can enhance their recruitment and development process, may reduce their liability costs, provides a framework for organizational structure and management. Another interesting fact I learned from this article was that the objective of JC surveys is not only to evaluate the hospital, but to provide education & guidance that will help staff continue to improve the hospital’s performance. When the JC comes on-site to survey a facility, their team can consists of physicians, nurses, life safety code specialists, or hospital administrators. It was interesting to learn that the JC has more than 400 surveyors.
This article was full of interesting information about the JC’s accreditation process, but I found the cost of accreditation to be the most interesting. The JC’s annual fees for a facility are based on their size & the services offered & range from $1,780 to $36,845, and are paid at the beginning of the year. I was also unaware that the JC charged facilities per day that their surveyors were on-site. For example, in 2008 the on-site hospital survey fees were $2,500 per surveyor for the first day & $1,030 per surveyor for the second and subsequent days. Another interesting fact in this article was that small hospitals, (fewer than 26 beds & less than 50,000 visits) pay $1,090 in annual fees and $4,580 per on-site surveyor. I found this interesting because you would think that larger facilities would be charged more, instead smaller facilities take the hit when it come to the surveying process.
www.jointcommission.org/AboutUs/Fact_Sheets/hospital_facts.html
Quality Tool
Improving Health Care Quality:
A Guide to Better Health Care Quality
Well, after this semester we should all be familiar with the importance of quality care. This tool present resources & information that can help you get better quality healthcare. It is broken down into five sections:
- What affects health care quality & how you can become involved
- Measuring health care quality & Where to find measurement tools
- Tips to help you make more informed health care decisions
- Information on how you can find out about clinical trials
- List of resources
As we have heard before, everyday millions of people receive high quality health care at the right time & in the right way. However, occasionally something goes wrong. It is then left up to the patient to take charge of their health care in order to reduce their risk of medical errors. The fact is, health care quality varies depending on where you live, who you are, & how much is known about treating your condition.
Out of the five sections, the one I found most interesting was “Tips to help you make more informed health care decisions”. As a patient, you can never learn enough tips to help improve the health care you received. This section discussed tips on how to include quality in your health care decisions. Most people don’t consider quality as an issue when deciding on a health plan, a doctor, when choosing a treatment, a hospital, or a long-term care facility. For me, the following tips stood out:
Health Plan
- Has been given high ratings by its members
- Does a good job on helping people stay well & get better
Doctor:
- Has the training & experience to meet your needs
- Takes steps to prevent illness
- Can get you admitted to or treat you at the hospital of your choice
When choosing a treatment, make sure you understand:
- Your diagnosis
- How soon you need to be treated
- Your treatment choices
- The costs
- How much experience your doctor has in treating your condition
A hospital:
- Is it accredited by the JC
- Is one where you doctor can practice
- Has a lot of experience & success with your condition
- Monitors quality & safety of its patients
A long-term care facility:
- Provides a level of care, including staff & services, that meets your needs
Overall, this was an interesting tool that everyone should read. We often forget that WE make the decisions when it comes to our health & health care.
http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/qntlite/qntlite.pdf
Classmate Pick of the Week- Rajni
This week I read Rajni’s quality tool “Rural Area Health’. I found it interesting since I heard someone peak on telemedicine while at the AHIMA convention. It is true that the use of this new technology is taking off in the U.S. I agree with her that the main reason is due to Medicaid. Despite Medicaid paying for most of the fees surrounding telemedicine, there is still room for improvement. Medicaid still does not pay for many aspects of telemedicine that could improve the quality of care offered to patients in the rural areas of America.
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