Joint Commission's Purpose and Accreditation Process
Health care organization assessments are conducted by agencies and organizations such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission. Begin this assignment by reviewing The Joint Commission Accreditation Process Overview provided in the topic Resources folder. Also review the videos provided in the topic Resources folder.
Using the Joint Commission resource and the Standards Information for Hospitals, write a 1,000-1,250-word paper that includes a description of the Joint Commission’s accreditation process.
Include the following in your essay:
Describe why it is important for an organization's performance to be measured by outside agencies/surveyors
Describe the purpose of the Joint Commission.
Explain the Joint Commission Survey process.
Describe the Joint Commission Standards? Provide a minimum of two examples of standards for quality of patient care or national patient safety goals.
Describe how the Joint Commission Standards affect the accreditation status.
Describe the Intracycle Monitoring (ICM) profile and the Focused Standards Assessment (FSA) process.
Summarize how a leader would present the significance of understanding accreditation and assessment information to the team.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.
Leadership in Healthcare
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Leadership in Healthcare
Healthcare organization assessments play a significant role in determining the safety and quality of care and the performance of healthcare organizations. Even though healthcare organizations can carry out self-assessment, they need to be assessed by external organizations and agencies. One organization that carries out healthcare assessments is the Joint Commission. This paper examines the Joint Commission's purpose, accreditation process standards, and significance on healthcare organizations' accreditation status.
It is important for the performance of a healthcare organization to be measured by outside agencies/surveyors for several reasons. One, it enhances the credibility of the organization (Joint Commission, n.d.a.). When the performance of an organization is measured by a nationally respected and recognized organization such as the Joint Commission, the results/report of the performance measurement is more appealing to and believable by the public. This can be a source of competitive advantage. Two, performance measurements by an outside organization are necessary for certification and accreditation. According to the Joint Commission (n.d.a.), the performance of healthcare organizations that need accreditation or certification or those that have already been accredited or certified need to be measured and reported based on the reporting requirements. Failure to meet these requirements means no accreditation or certification. Three, performance measure by an outside organization is necessary for quality improvement. Healthcare organizations get to know their strong and weak areas in healthcare quality and safety. They can then work on improving their weak areas.
The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose major purpose is to provide accreditation and certification for healthcare organizations in the US and beyond (Joint Commission, n.d.b.). Through accreditation and certification, the Joint Commission advocates for safe and quality healthcare for patients. To achieve this, it has put in place standards and measures that guide its assessment of healthcare organizations to ensure they achieve excellence in patient care safety and quality. These measures include the performance and accountability measures that healthcare organizations must meet before receiving accreditation or certification. According to Wadhwa and Huynh (2021), the Joint Commission aims to eliminate medical errors, sentinel events, and non-compliance, threatening patient safety or affecting the quality of care. The organization visits healthcare organizations and conducts patient surveys to assess the organization's performance and health outcomes.
The Joint Commission survey process involves assessing the process of genuine care in a healthcare organization. The process consists in conducting surveys on patients in the healthcare organization on the day of the survey to collect data on the care processes (Joint Commission, n.d.c.). The first step in the survey process, which occurs on-site, involves planning the survey session. This session allows the organization to inform the staff what to do when the surveyors arrive (Joint Commission, 2021). Then, the surveyor is familiarized with the organization. The next step involves a leadership session (Joint Commission, n.d.c.). During this session, the surveyors discuss the role of leadership in care quality and safety improvement and the creation of systems to enhance security and quality. The surveyors then assess the competence of the organization. The survey process also involves an environment of care session where areas such as unsafe practices and injury reports are addressed (Joint Commission, 2021). Finally, the surveyors end the process by providing the team with a summarized, written report of the findings. The surveyor's arrival at the hospital is usually unannounced or with short notice (Joint Commission, 2021).
The Joint Commission has developed standards that facilitate the assessment of healthcare organizations to ensure they improve their patient care processes. The standards set safety and quality expectations for organizations to ensure...