TJC & CMS News Blog Information
for Hospitals and Behavioral Healthcare
To read articles written prior to January 2015, please view our Newsletter Archive.
Preventing Copy-and-Paste Errors in EHRs
TJC now publishes Quick Safety. It’s a brief informational posting on patient safety issues. Issue 10 has an article that’s relevant as many organizations transition to an electronic health record. The topic is the practice of “copying and pasting” in EHRs.
TJC Blog for Chief Medical Officers
TJC publishes a monthly e-newsletter titled Physician Leader Monthly. The target audience is Chief Medical Officers and the topics are geared toward physician leaders. So, check it out and see if it might be a good resource for your CMO.
A Look at a Suicide Prevention Tracer
For a few years now, TJC surveyors have been conducting suicide prevention tracers when applicable to the setting they are surveying. This is known as a “program specific tracer.” We recently had a client that had this type of tracer during their survey and thought it would be helpful to share their impressions.
Patient Safety: Evaluating your Organization’s Culture
The standard is LD.03.01.01 Element requires leaders to “regularly evaluate the culture of safety and quality.” With this standard, TJC is emphasizing that the culture within an organization directly impacts the safety and quality of care provided.
Provision of Care Chapter: Highlights from 2014 TJC Surveys
Findings in the Provision of Care chapter typically account for a significant number of Requirements for Improvement (RFIs) on surveys for both psychiatric hospitals and behavioral health organizations/programs. These findings relate primarily to assessment, treatment...
New Patient Safety Systems Chapter
There is a new Patient Safety Systems Chapter in the 2015 Hospital Accreditation Manual. There are no new standards in this chapter. Rather, it describes how existing standards can be used to build an integrated patient safety system. While this new chapter exists...
Revised Requirements for Psychiatric Hospitals with Deemed Status
Effective February 1, 2015, revised requirements go into effect for psychiatric hospitals that use Joint Commission accreditation for deemed status. TJC added one new requirement and revised nine elements of performance in order to ensure alignment with the CMS...
New Sentinel Event Chapter
Be aware that TJC has revised its Sentinel Event Policy and the Sentinel Event chapter in both the Hospital and Behavioral Health manuals. The revisions were effective January 1, 2015. While the essential components of the Sentinel Event Policy have not changed, there are some new terms and definitions that are important.
National Patient Safety Goal on Alarm Management: Relevance for Psychiatric Hospitals
In January 2014, TJC introduced the National Patient Safety Goal on Alarm Management (NPSG.06.01.01) for hospitals and critical access hospitals. Since psychiatric hospitals are surveyed under the Hospital standards, this National Patient Safety Goal is applicable in...
Suicide Risk Assessment Now # 2 in Top Ten Compliance Issues for Behavioral Health
TJC recently published the Top Ten Standards Compliance Issues for the First Half of 2014. (See table below.) There is not much new or different from previous years but it's worth noting that suicide risk assessment has now climbed to the # 2 spot on the list with 21%...