TJC & CMS News Blog
Information for

The New Year has arrived! So, are you all squared away with the Joint Commission 2022 standards effective 1/1/22? Now’s the time for a final check to be sure you’re fully compliant with the new 2022 requirements.

Experience tells us when a new year kicks in, surveyors typically focus heavily on what’s new for that year. So, let’s review some key changes for 2022 and tips for ensuring compliance.

New Joint Commission Requirements Effective 1/1/2022

Written Performance Improvement Plan

This new requirement is in both the Hospital manual and the Behavioral Healthcare & Human Services manual. TJC now requires a written PI Plan. Specifically, it needs to include details about your PI methods, PI projects, and how you’ll measure and sustain improvement.

For full coverage of what needs to be in your PI Plan, see our article New TJC Performance Improvement Requirements.

What to Do Now: Make sure your leaders and managers are familiar with your organization’s PI Plan. Moreover, they should be able to discuss your top PI projects and their role in those projects.

Workplace Violence Prevention Requirements

These new requirements are in the Hospital manual. They call for a worksite analysis and a workplace violence prevention program. For all the details, see our article New TJC Workplace Violence Prevention Requirements.

What to Do Now: Make sure your leadership team can discuss how you’re addressing workplace violence prevention. Specifically, what’s included in your program. This topic will likely come up during your survey in either the Opening Conference (on the first day) or the Leadership meeting (on the last day.)  

New Joint Commission Requirements Effective 7/1/2021

Remember, there are some requirements that went into effect back on 7/1/21. Thus, these will still be high on the radar in 2022. They’re as follows:

Life Safety Requirements for Business Occupancies

These new requirements are in both the Hospital manual and the  Behavioral Healthcare & Human Services manual. They cover  smoke/fire barriers, means of egress, electrical panels, corridor widths, fire extinguishers, and other items.

What to Do Now: First, conduct a self assessment against the new standards and review it in your Environment of Care Committee. Use TJC’s Business Occupancy Life Safety Compliance Checklist.  Then, be sure to address any deficiencies you identify.

Fire Drill Requirements for Behavioral Health Settings

There are new fire drill requirements for behavioral health settings surveyed under the Behavioral Healthcare & Human Services manual. They apply to locked and unlocked residential settings as well as healthcare occupancies.

For all the details, see our article New Joint Commission Fire Drill Requirements for Behavioral Healthcare.

What to Do Now: Make sure you’re conducting your fire drills as frequently as required by these new requirements. In addition, critique the drills. Lastly, report the results into your Safety Committee and  identify opportunities for improvement.   

Joint Commission 2022 Standards: E-dition

All these standards changes are included in the E-dition January 2022 Update to the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals and the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Behavioral Health Care and Human Services. The E-dition is available on your Joint Commission Connect extranet site.

There’s a helpful section at the front of each E-dition manual titled “What’s New?” This gives you a summary of the 2022 changes.

Additionally, you can use the “Filters” tab at the top of the screen to view only the 2022 changes. Just click on that tab and select “New/Changed EPs as of selected effective date.”

Joint Commission 2022 Survey Activity Guide

Also, TJC has published the 2022 Survey Activity Guide for all accreditation programs. It includes updates to the survey process and any changes to the content of the survey sessions.

Virtual Joint Commission Surveys

As you know, TJC continues to conduct a number of virtual surveys. For an update on that front, check out our recent article Virtual Joint Commission Surveys: Get Prepared.

Barrins & Associates Consultation

We’re now conducting our Mock Surveys and Continuous Readiness Consultations both virtually and onsite.

Most importantly, we’re covering all these updates to the 2022 Joint Commission standards and the 2022 survey process. As always, we’re prepared to support your ongoing compliance and survey readiness even in these continually challenging times.