Six patient safety goals must be met by hospitals
Six patient safety goals must be met by hospitals
JCAHO to announce goals by July 1 each year
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, has announced plans to establish six annual national patient safety goals by July 1 each year and then require hospitals to be in compliance with them by Jan. 1 the following year. The plan is intended as a compromise in response to protests over a previous plan that would have held accredited organizations responsible for responding to Sentinel Event Alerts.
Advisory group to select goals
The six goals will include one or two recommendations selected from expert or evidence-based recommendations made in past issues of Sentinel Event Alert, the Joint Commission’s patient safety newsletter that provides succinct summaries of sentinel event-specific lessons learned and recommendations for improvement. Until October 2001, the Joint Commission surveyed providers on all Sentinel Event Alert recommendations and planned to enact a formal system in which hospitals would have had to pick specifications to address with quality improvement projects. That plan was criticized as impractical and burdensome.
According to information released by the Joint Commission, the six patient safety goals will be selected by a Sentinel Event Alert Advisory Group. "The Advisory Group will assess the evidence for and face validity of past and future alert recommendations, as well as the practicality of implementation, and reach consensus on those recommendations that are to be included in an ongoing pool of expert or evidence-based recommendations for patient safety," according to the Joint Commission. "Each year the goals will be re-evaluated. JCAHO’s board of commissioners will select the annual goals to be assessed during the survey process based on the recommendations of the Advisory Group."
The six goals selected by July of each year will be announced immediately to accredited providers.
Beginning Jan. 1 the following year, organizations providing care relevant to the patient safety goals will be surveyed to determine their compliance with the recommendations or implementation of an acceptable alternative. Noncompliance will result in a Type I recommendation.
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