Editor’s Note: Click the PDF button for a full edition of the May 2017 edition of Briefings on Accreditation and Quality
SAFER in practice; Thoughts on Joint Commission’s new scoring matrix
Unless you happened to be one of the facilities surveyed in the last four months, you still haven’t seen The Joint Commission’s new scoring system, the Survey Analysis for Evaluating Risk (SAFER) matrix put into practice. So what are people saying about the new system? Is it better or worse than the one that came before? Victoria Fennel, PhD, RN-BC, CPHQ, director of accreditation and clinical compliance at Compass Clinical Consulting, says Compass has heard from clients who’ve experienced the matrix and most of the feedback has been very positive.
Joint Commission EC and LS chapter revisions in the works for 2018
After a year of anticipation, Joint Commission surveyors finally started checking for compliance with the 2012 Life Safety Code® (LSC) and Health Care Facilities Code. The changes apply to the accreditor’s Environment of Care (EC) and Life Safety (LS) chapters. One set of chapter revisions took effect in January, with additional revisions to be implemented in July 2017 and in early 2018.
Make the most of CMS’ surveyor IC worksheets
On May 18, 2012, CMS initiated the Patient Safety Initiative which included surveyor worksheets for assessing compliance with three hospital Conditions of Participation (CoP): Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement, Infection Control, and Discharge Planning. The goal of these was to reduce hospital-acquired conditions, including healthcare infections and preventable readmissions. Maria Del Pilar Messner, corporate director of accreditation, regulations, and licensing at Adventist Health says that this a huge gift for accreditors. If CMS was sharing the surveyor worksheets, why not use them?
Q&A: Navigating the telemedicine requirements
This is the first year that Medicaid in all 50 states has adopted some form of telemedicine coverage. While technology has allowed for new and creative ways to connect patients and providers, deciphering the laws surrounding them can be difficult. The rules for what we can use telemedicine for and where vary greatly on a state by state level. The following is an edited Q&A with Sue Dill Calloway, RN, Esq., AD, BA, BSN, MSN, JD, CPHRM, CCMSCP, president of Patient Safety and Healthcare Consulting and Education, on the need to know about telemedicine.