Association for Healthcare Accreditation Professionals

Hello, everyone. We've just completed this year's full-color AHAP Conference brochure, and we wanted to share an advance copy with our members. We're very proud of the conference we're putting together for you this year and excited to have the chance to meet with everyone again in May.

Make sure to keep an eye out for the print brochure, which will be arriving in the next few weeks. But for now, please take a look at here if you'd like an early preview of what we're offering at this year's AHAP Conference.

Matt Phillion

Briefings on The Joint Commission

Hi blog readers,

I wanted to update you about the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's latest campaign, launched last week at the 20th annual National Forum on Quality Improvement:

IHI launches newest quality improvement campaign

Piggybacking on its predecessors, the "100,000 Lives" and "5 Million Lives" campaigns, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) latest quality improvement effort, the "Improvement Map," adds new initiatives for hospitals to take part in to improve patient care. Introduced at the 20th annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare last week in Nashville, TN, the Improvement Map hopes to incorporate and move beyond some of the earlier interventions, which mostly focused on preventing unnecessary death within hospitals.

Don Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, president of the IHI, introduced the Improvement Map to forum attendees, highlighting three new interventions that have been immediately added to the existing 12 from previous campaigns. These are:

• Implementing the World Health Organization's surgical safety checklist to prevent surgical errors

• Improving patient safety by linking financial strategies to quality improvement projects

• Preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections

Berwick challenged attendees to "the sprint," by asking them to implement the surgical safety checklist in one operating room in every hospital in the country within the next 90 days to have an immediate effect on patient safety. Other interventions will be added in the coming months to the new campaign.

To find out more about this campaign, click here.

Speaking to that second bullet point, Ken Rohde's session at the 3rd annual AHAP conference, taking place May 14-15 2009 in Las Vegas, will focus on leadership strategies for improving quality within hospitals. To find out more about the conference, click here.

Hello,

I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware that The Joint Commission updated its Facts about the National Patient Safety Goals page, summing up what changes and updates we can expect to see in 2009 surrounding the NPSGs.

On a related note, senior Greeley Company consultants Patricia Pejakovich, RN, BSN, MPA, CPHQ, CSHA, and WendySue Woods, RN, MHSA, CSHA, will be presenting on the NPSGs at the upcoming AHAP Conference:

Making the 2009 NPSGs Come to Life:  There have been many new additions to the 2009 NPSGs, including new goals about patient identification for blood transfusions, infection control and prevention, and medication reconciliation. Learn how proven strategies for compliance with these, as well as the existing goals.

If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the full agenda for this year's conference here.

Matt Phillion

Senior Managing Editor, Briefings on The Joint Commission

Hello AHAP blog readers,

The Agenda for the 2009 AHAP annual conference has been posted (click here to see the full agenda). I thought you might like to know about a few highlights:

As listed below, we'll be having an accreditation panel with speakers from the Joint Commission, HFAP, and DNV.

Additionally, both days of the conference will start out with a general session (after the keynote speaker on the first day). Day one's session will be lead by Ken Rohde, a Senior Consultant for The Greeley Company. He'll talk about the 2009 Joint Commission leadership standards and how your facility's leaders can emphasize creating a culture of safety.

The second day's general session will be lead by Kurt Patton, principal at Patton Healthcare Consulting. He'll be discussing The Joint Commission's scoring changes for 2009.

Hope to see you at the conference!

Heather Comak

Assistant Director, AHAP

Our 2009 conference will include a special session featuring executives from The Joint Commission, DNV Healthcare Inc., and the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program. Speakers will include Ann Scott Blouin, PhD, RN, Executive Vice President in the Division of Accreditation and Certification Operations at The Joint Commission, Patrick Horine, Executive Vice President of Accreditation Services at DNV Healthcare Inc., Rebecca Wise, Chief Operating Officer at DNV Healthcare Inc., and George A. Reuther, Chief Operation Officer at the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program.

Each organization will have 15 minutes to present, followed by 45 minutes of Q&A. Join us for what will undoubtedly be an interesting discussion on how all three organizations are changing accreditation in healthcare.

We've now confirmed speakers from The Joint Commission, DNV Healthcare, and HFAP for the May 2009 conference. Should be a great conference!

Just wanted to follow up on Matt's posting and offer some details on our 2009 conference. We've already confirmed the following speakers and topics:

Hello, everyone. I just wanted to let you know that we'll be announcing speakers and topics very soon for the upcoming AHAP Conference May 14-15 in Las Vegas. Make sure to keep an eye on this blog for additional information in the comings days and weeks.

As always, you can find the basics about AHAP's annual conference here.

From: AHAP Chair Jodi L. Eisenberg, MHA, CPMSM, CPHQ, CSHA

Dear AHAP colleagues,

I wanted to update you on some of the topics we’ll be covering at the conference. The 2009 conference will include sessions on recent changes to the National Patient Safety Goals, The Joint Commission's Leadership standards, tracers, critical test results, and more. And we've already confirmed a speaker from DNV Healthcare, Inc., the first new organization to receive deeming authority for hospitals in more than 30 years.

I invite you to email me (jeisenbe@nmh.org) or contract Brian Driscoll, AHAP’s director, at briandriscoll@hcpro.com if you have any questions about the AHAP conference, or if you have any suggestions how we can make it better.

I hope to see you all in Las Vegas! 

Jodi

PS: I hope you all saw Brian’s email inviting you to participate in the 2^nd annual AHAP Salary Survey. Brian tells me we have almost 100 responses already. Also, stay tuned for the next working group call, which will focus on critical test results and feature AHAP advisor Gayla Jackson. 

Here’s a great presentation on the top 10 most frequently scored standards from this year’s AHAP conference, which took place May 8-9 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. We understand there was some confusion regarding the location of this breakout session, entitled “Staying ahead of the top 10 most frequently scored standards.” If you didn’t attend this year’s conference, or if you missed this session, click here to download a PDF of the conference workbook and click here to listen to an MP3 of the presentation. The presenter, Kurt Patton, MS, is a senior consultant for The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc. in Marblehead, MA, president of Patton Healthcare Consulting, LLC, in Glendale, AZ, and former executive director of accreditation services at The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO).

In the coming weeks, we will continue posting more presentations from this year's conference. Of the following, which interests you most?

Critical test results?

Keeping up with the IM standards?

MS.1.20?

Restraint and seclusion?

Suicide risk assessment?

Post a comment to the blog and let us know. Your feedback will determine the next presentation we provide. And, remember, it’s not too early to sign up for next year’s conference! Click here for more information.

Brian Driscoll
AHAP Director

From BOJ Editor Matt Phillion:

The 2^nd Annual AHAP Conference kicked off this morning at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas with a keynote presentation by Ian Morrison, Ph.D, author, consultant, and futurist on the state of healthcare. AHAP attendees then broke off into a general session on medication reconciliation, presented by Molly McDaniel, PharmD. This year’s conference is off to a great start with almost 100 more accreditation professionals in attendance than last year.

During a standing-room-only presentation by Jean S. Clark, RHIA, CSHA, on struggles facing hospitals dealing with IM standards, she discussed shortening lists for “critical” tests results and values, as “even The Joint Commission recommends you have a short list.” Critical test results and values topped the list of 2007’s top compliance issues with an HIM focus.

During a session updating the status of MS.1.20, Kurt Patton, MS, president of Patton Healthcare Consulting, LLC, recommended keeping your eyes open next week for possible updates on MS.1.20—the Joint Commission’s task force met last week, which could indicate new information in the next week.

Other topics covered today included:

Suicide risk assessment

Critical test results

Rapid response systems and anticoagulant therapy

Joint Commission ongoing professional practice evaluation

Check back tomorrow for more updates from AHAP!

Matt Phillion

Managing Editor, Briefings on The Joint Commission