Heads up! Does your behavioral health organization/program provide treatment for substance use disorders? If so, you’ll need to address new TJC standards going into effect on July 1, 2020.
TJC Standards: Behavioral Health Care Manual
TJC accredits opioid treatment programs and medication-assisted treatment programs under its Behavioral Health Care Accreditation Program. The new standards will be in the Spring 2020 E-dition update to the Comprehensive Manual for Behavioral Health Care. They are enhancements to the existing standards for substance use disorder treatment in the Care, Treatment, and Services chapter. The Prepublication Standards are available on the Joint Commission website.
TJC Standards for Substance Use Disorder Treatment
The impetus for these changes is TJC’s goal of using its standards to improve quality and safety of care for this population. TJC determined a need to enhance the standards related to appropriate level of care, transitions of care, and proper use of urine drug testing to ensure the standards reflect best practices in the industry.
As a result, the new requirements focus on the following key areas:
- Assessment
- Level of care determinations
- Treatment planning
- Discharge planning
- Toxicology testing
- Safety measures related to medication-assisted therapy
- Disclosing program costs
Details of the New Requirements
In addition to introducing these new standards, TJC published the R3 Report Issue 25 Enhanced Substance Use Disorders Standards for Behavioral Health Organizations. This report is an excellent resource. For example, it provides the rationale for each of the standards changes. This rationale is very helpful in understanding the intent of the standard. And, moreover, how best to implement it in your program. In addition, the R3 Report provides a wealth of references and best practice resources.
What To Do Now
In conclusion, if you provide substance use disorder treatment, we recommend the following steps to ensure compliance with these new requirements:
- Convene a leadership workgroup to develop an implementation plan for the new standards.
- Carefully review both the Prebulicaton Standards and the R3 Report.
- Revise current policies, processes, and tools as indicated to comply with the new requirements.
- Train staff on these revised policies, processes, and tools.
- Develop performance measures to evaluate successful implementation of your changes.
- Integrate these measures into your Quality Assessment/Performance Improvement (QAPI) program.
Barrins & Associates Resources
Barrins & Associates will incorporate these new standards into our Education and Training and Mock Surveys for behavioral health organizations that provide substance use disorder treatment. As always, Continuous Readiness is the key to success!