/ en Sun, 27 Apr 2025 06:47:21 -0500 Wed, 16 Aug 23 14:33:02 -0500 /news/headline/2023-08-16-national-quality-forum-affiliates-joint-commission <p>The National Quality Forum will join the Joint Commission, while maintaining its independence in convening and developing consensus-based measures, the organizations <a href="https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/news-and-multimedia/news/2023/08/joint-commission-and-national-quality-forum-join-forces/" target="_blank">announced</a> Aug. 16. They said the affiliation will allow the organizations “to build upon their shared expertise in measuring quality and rationalizing the measurement landscape, so the focus shifts from competing measures to advancing key outcomes.” </p> <p>Nancy Foster, AHA's vice president of quality and patient safety policy, said, “This strategic alliance could benefit health care providers and their patients by creating greater consensus around which measures are important and most likely to inform hospitals’ quality improvement efforts. For more than 70 years, the Joint Commission has helped hospitals improve their quality. By aligning with the National Quality Forum — a leader in identifying effective quality measures — health care providers, patients and other stakeholders should gain a clearer and more consistent understanding of what excellence in health care looks like with a more streamlined set of metrics.”</p> Wed, 16 Aug 2023 14:33:02 -0500 The Joint Commission /news/headline/2023-01-20-hospital-leader-named-joint-commission-board <p>The Joint Commission recently <a href="https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/news-and-multimedia/news/2023/01/the-joint-commission-appoints-3-new-members-to-board-of-commissioners/#.Y8rMDHbMI2y">appointed</a> Susan Fox, president and CEO of White Plains Hospital in New York, to its Board of Commissioners effective Jan. 1. Fox recently served on the AHA Board of Trustees and held various strategic and operational positions before joining White Plaines Hospital, including serving as a health care consultant for Ernst & Young and managing the physician enterprise for a large health system. Also joining The Joint Commission Board in January were Andrew Dreyfus, former president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; and Eric (Rick) Schlesinger, a performance improvement advisor to health care organizations.</p> Fri, 20 Jan 2023 14:51:40 -0600 The Joint Commission /news/blog/2023-01-11-joint-commission-standards-review-fewer-more-meaningful-requirements <div class="container row"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <p>The past couple of years have not been easy for health care. As health systems and hospitals continue to recover from the financial, physical and emotional burdens brought on by COVID-19, they also face immense challenges — including staffing shortages and health care worker burnout.</p> <p>A recent report from Kaufman Hall found that more than half of hospitals were projected to have negative margins through 2022, with U.S. hospitals “likely to face billions of dollars in losses in 2022.” And while the epidemic of burnout in U.S. health care predates COVID-19, the stresses of the pandemic greatly exacerbated the factors contributing to burnout. Prior to the pandemic, health care worker burnout rates averaged from 30% to 50%. Today, burnout rates range from 40% to 70%, according to <em>HealthLeaders</em>.</p> <p>Earlier this year, <em>Medscape</em> surveyed health care workers and asked, “What contributes most to your burnout?” Sixty percent of respondents reported that too many bureaucratic tasks such as charting and paperwork contributed to their burnout.</p> <p>At The Joint Commission, we recognize that without a physically and mentally healthy workforce, we cannot have safe care. As the largest accreditor in health care, we have a responsibility to address and alleviate some of the stressors related to burnout where possible.</p> <h2>Mega Review of Standards</h2> <p>I recently made the decision for The Joint Commission to conduct a mega review of all its “above-and-beyond” requirements – those that go beyond the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Conditions of Participation and are not on crosswalks to the CoPs. We also are reviewing all standards and elements of performance (EPs) not directly tied to Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements or other regulatory requirements.</p> <p>Specifically, The Joint Commission is reviewing each requirement to answer these key questions:</p> <ul> <li>Does the requirement still address an important safety and quality issue?</li> <li>Is the requirement redundant?</li> <li>Has the requirement evolved with contemporary practice?</li> <li>Are the time and resources needed to comply with the requirement commensurate with the estimated benefit to patient care and health outcomes?</li> </ul> <p>In addition to a qualitative review of each requirement, The Joint Commission is conducting quantitative analyses of scoring patterns to test for redundancy. Where necessary, we also are conducting literature and field reviews, engaging experts within the field, and seeking input from accredited organizations.</p> <p>The goal is to eliminate any standards and EPs that no longer add value, pending CMS approval. The Joint Commission wants to have fewer, more meaningful requirements, while also reducing the burden on already overburdened health care workers and institutions.</p> <p>The first tranche of discontinued standards and EPs was recently announced to include the elimination of 56 standards from our Hospital Accreditation Program – a nearly 14% reduction of standards that are within our scope. The full list of the deleted standards, effective Jan. 1, 2023, is available <a href="https://www.jointcommission.org/standards/prepublication-standards/the-joint-commission-retires-select-accreditation-requirements/" target="_blank">here</a> with additional updates to occur every six months thereafter.</p> <p>I hope the mega review of Joint Commission standards will help provide some relief to hospitals, health systems and their providers as they continue to recover from the pandemic.</p> <p>Additionally, in solidarity with the financial challenges that so many hospitals and health systems are facing, The Joint Commission has decided <strong>not</strong> to raise its domestic hospital accreditation fees in 2023. While some accreditation surveys will be conducted for less than cost – this is a result we are willing to take as it is the right thing to do.</p> <p>These changes are just the beginning, and decisions like these do not happen in a vacuum. I look forward to continuing discussions with the health care community in the coming months to learn how The Joint Commission can further improve health care through accreditation and beyond. Together, I believe we can achieve the vision that “all people experience safe, high quality and consistently excellent health care.”</p> <p>Please visit The Joint Commission <a href="https://www.jointcommission.org/-/media/tjc/documents/accred-and-cert/tjc-survey-roadmap-horiz-61422.pdf" target="_blank">website</a> to learn more about the accreditation process, including where standards come from and the survey experience.</p> <p><em>Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., is the president and CEO of The Joint Commission. The views of the author do not always reflect the views of the AHA.</em></p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <div class="panel panel-default"> <div class="panel-body"> <p><br /> M<em>ajor announcements from The Joint Commission:</em></p> <ul> <li class="text-align-left">Fourteen percent reduction in hospital accreditation standards.</li> <li class="text-align-left">No accreditation fee increases for domestic hospitals in 2023</li> </ul> <p> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Wed, 11 Jan 2023 15:44:02 -0600 The Joint Commission /news/headline/2022-12-20-joint-commission-revises-quality-safety-standards <p>The Joint Commission announced plans to revise 56 standards during the first review cycle of 2023 according to <a href="https://www.modernhealthcare.com/acredidation/joint-commission-cuts-quality-standards-smoking-opioids">an article</a> in <em>Modern Healthcare</em> today. Revising and retiring certain quality and safety standards will remove redundancies and obsolete measures to allow for new measures related to health equity, sustainability, workforce and infection prevention. “The AHA appreciates The Joint Commission’s efforts to ensure their standards are consistent with the ever-changing science around care delivery. In addition, especially during this period of persistent workforce pressures, it is important to take meaningful action to reduce unnecessary burden so providers can focus more of their time on patient care. We support The Joint Commission’s immediate decision to eliminate outdated and duplicative standards and look forward to the benefits that the new standards review process will yield,” said Nancy Foster, AHA’s vice president of quality and safety.  <br />  <br /> The Joint Commission beginning 2023 will review its standards every six months using panels of experts, according to the article.  </p> Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:07:50 -0600 The Joint Commission /news/headline/2022-09-14-joint-commission-reviewing-whether-retire-certain-requirements <p>The Joint Commission is reviewing its requirements that go beyond the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ conditions of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to determine whether it should permanently retire some of them. <br />  <br /> “During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), CMS put many requirements on hold,” the organization <a href="https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/news-and-multimedia/news/2022/09/joint-commission-official-statement-on-standards-review/?ref=TJCAL22#.YyIK7HbMKUk">said</a>. “As the PHE nears its end, CMS has been reviewing the waived requirements to determine whether some should be permanently retired. The Joint Commission will similarly address the necessity of our own unique requirements.”</p> Wed, 14 Sep 2022 15:29:47 -0500 The Joint Commission /news/headline/2021-09-22-joint-commission-names-next-president-and-ceo <p>The Joint Commission today <a href="https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/news-and-multimedia/news/2021/09/jonathan-perlin-named-president-of-the-joint-commission/">named</a> as its next president and CEO effective March 1 Jonathan Perlin, M.D., a former AHA board chair who currently serves as president of clinical operations and chief medical officer for HCA Healthcare, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and chair of the National Quality Forum. Among other leadership roles, Dr. Perlin previously served as under secretary for health and senior advisor to the secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs; inaugural chair of the Department of Health and Human Services Health Information Technology Standards Committee; and on numerous boards and commissions including The Joint Commission and National Patient Safety Foundation. </p> <p>“Today’s announcement is great news for patients and the health of America,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “Put simply, Dr. Perlin will make an outstanding President and CEO of The Joint Commission as he oversees the health care fields’ continuing efforts to improve quality and patient safety. Dr. Perlin has a wide and impressive array of experience. He has provided leadership for clinical services and performance improvement as a chief medical officer at a major health system, worked to implement and improve federal health care programs as a leader in the Department of Veterans Affairs, conducted meaningful health care studies as a researcher and driven national health care policy changes as a leader and member of numerous national boards, commissions and committees. He has an in-depth understanding and knowledge of every corner of the health care field from quality and patient safety to emerging technologies. We congratulate Jon on his new role and look forward to continuing to work with him to advance health in America.”</p> <p>Mark Chassin, M.D., plans to <a href="https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/news-and-multimedia/newsletters/newsletters/joint-commission-online/feb-17-2021/dr-chassin-will-step-down-from-his-role-as-president-ceo-of-joint-commission-at-end-of-2021/">step down</a> as president and CEO of The Joint Commission to pursue other quality improvement endeavors.<br />  </p> Wed, 22 Sep 2021 15:08:30 -0500 The Joint Commission