TJC & CMS News Blog Information
for Hospitals and Behavioral Healthcare
To read articles written prior to January 2015, please view our Newsletter Archive.
SAFER Matrix: A Closer Look at Scoring
TJC’s SAFER matrix has been around since January 2017. Feedback from the field has been very positive. At the same time, clients often ask just how surveyors make decisions about scoring on the matrix. So, let’s take a closer look at that. SAFER Matrix Decisions TJC...
NPSG.15.01.01 Suicide Risk Reduction: Safety Planning at Discharge
Has your organization addressed the new NPSG.15.01.01.01 requirement for counseling and follow-up care at discharge? It went into effect July 1st. Interestingly, we find many clients focusing on the suicide risk assessment component but paying little attention to this...
TJC System Tracer on Data Management: Survey Management Strategies
Fifth in our series on TJC Survey Management Strategies You’re coming down the home stretch of your survey. Now it’s time for the TJC System Tracer on Data Management. So, what’s this tracer all about these days? And how best to prepare? Let’s take a look at the...
NPSG.15.01.01 Suicide Risk Reduction: Feedback from Surveys
Be prepared! TJC’s new requirements for the National Patient Safety Goal on Suicide Risk Reduction (NPSG.15.01.01) officially went into effect July 1st. As anticipated, surveyors are closely evaluating compliance with the seven new requirements. We analyzed our...
CMS Regulations for Psychiatric Hospitals: The Compliance Challenge
Is your psychiatric hospital feeling the burden of CMS regulations? If so, you’re not alone. The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) recently released a report on this important topic: The High Cost of Compliance: Assessing the Regulatory Burden on Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities. The report focuses on three regulatory requirements for Medicare certified psychiatric hospitals …
TJC Survey Outcomes: 2019 Trends
How do your TJC survey outcomes compare with other behavioral health organizations? Check out this recent TJC data to see how you stack up.
NPSG.15.01.01 Suicide Risk Reduction: Get Clear on New Requirements
It’s official! The new requirements for TJC’s National Patient Safety Goal NPSG.15.01.01 on Suicide Risk Reduction became effective July 1st. Predictably, surveyors are focusing intensely on these new requirements. We’ve seen survey reports that cite all seven...
TJC Competence Assessment Session: Survey Management Strategies
Fourth in our series on TJC Survey Management Strategies. It’s Day 3 of your TJC survey. Time for the TJC Competence Assessment Session. Surveyors have given you a list of staff names. Now they’ll review your Human Resource and Staff Training files for those individuals. We’ve seen this session go smoothly. And we’ve seen it descend into chaos. The result can be several finding on your survey report in the Human Resources chapter. So, what are the current high focus areas? And the common compliance challenges? Let’s review those and help you get prepared for this session.
CMS Resurvey: Strategies for Survey Success
Has your psychiatric hospital been put in Immediate Jeopardy by CMS? Or, had a CMS survey with Condition level findings? Either way, you need to prepare for your CMS resurvey. So, it’s time to shift into high gear. In our last article Immediate Jeopardy and CMS Surveys: How to Respond, we covered Immediate Jeopardy and your response strategy. In this article, we address how to prepare for your CMS resurvey.
Immediate Jeopardy & CMS Surveys: How to Respond
Has your psychiatric hospital been cited by CMS for an Immediate Jeopardy situation? If so, “Immediate Jeopardy” can be a somewhat frightening term. What exactly does it mean and what are the implications? Most importantly, how should you respond? In this article, we provide important information on CMS Immediate Jeopardy and your response strategy. In our next article, we’ll discuss how best to prepare for your CMS resurvey.