Hello,
Just a quick announcement before the holiday--The Joint Commission has released the FAQs for the 2009 hospital standards. They're available online here. Rumor has it we'll see National Patient Safety Goals soon after the holiday.
Look for further coverage and analysis of this batch of FAQs in the coming days and weeks.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Matt Phillion
Senior Managing Editor
BOJ / AHAP Insider
Hello AHAP members,
I thought you might be interested in the following snippet of an article I recently wrote for Briefings on Patient Safety, about the Joint Commission's recently released FAQs, concerning the Universal Protocol.
Heather Comak
managing editor, Briefings on Patient Safety
The Joint Commission released frequently asked questions (FAQ) specifically about the 2009 Universal Protocol in November 2008, clarifying some areas of confusion that were brought about by the release of the 2009 National Patient Safety Goals in June 2008. Traditionally, The Joint Commission does not release FAQs about their standards until the year in which they apply, so this release of FAQs was considerably early.
"The Joint Commission has posted them before January 1 and they need to be applauded for getting them out now," says Elizabeth Di Giacomo-Geffers, RN, MPH CNAA, BC, CSHA, a healthcare consultant in Trabuco Canyon, CA.
Originally much of the field thought that although the Joint Commission had added in more detail to the standard, there were still instances in which it was difficult to judge whether completing all or parts of the Universal Protocol was necessary. The FAQs have specifically listed procedures that do and do not require compliance with the Universal Protocol, which is something that will prove helpful to the field.
"I think the most significant changes were that it really did clear up some ambiguity for what was not included,” says Gloria Rawn, RN, MS, JD, healthcare accreditation consultant from Kennebunkport, ME. The FAQs specifically list electroconvulsive therapy, closed reduction, lithotripsy, radiation oncology, and performance of dialysis (excluding insertion of dialysis catheters) as procedures that do not require the Universal Protocol to be carried out.
The Joint Commission released today its latest Sentinel Event Alert targeting anticoagulant use and medical errors, the fourth alert this year. There have been a number of high-profile medical errors involving anticoagulants in the national media, and The Joint Commission’s alert is intended to offer methods for preventing further errors.
This is not the first time The Joint Commission has targeted anticoagulants. Requirements introduced into the 2008 National Patient Safety Goals are set to hit the point of full implementation on January 1, 2009. The Joint Commission also addresses anticoagulants under the medication management standards.
Common factors in anticoagulant errors highlighted in The Joint Commission’s report include labeling and packaging issues, documentation errors, communication failures, an inappropriate use of medication.
The alert offers fifteen steps to error prevention, including
-An assessment of the risks involved in using anticoagulants like heparin and warfarin
-Use of best practices or evidence-based guidelines to prevent errors using anticoagulants
-Reassessment of labeling and storing of anticoagulants to avoid errors
-Greater communication and collaboration between staff members
-More extensive education for patients
For more information or to view the Sentinel Event Alert itself, go to The Joint Commission’s Web site here.
Just wanted to share this posting from Bud Pate, REHS, Vice President of Content and Development for The Greeley Company. Bud is currently attending Executive Briefings in Los Angeles.
Although there may be some errors, the "D"s [indicating that documentation is required] for the new standards will remain as written in the current version of the manual according to Dr. Robert Wise, Vice President for the Division of Standards and Survey Methods for the Joint Commission. Although he acknowledges that there may be errors, Dr. Wise committed that, until they change, documentation is not required unless there is a Circle D logo in the accreditation manual.
Stay tuned for more. Matt Phillion, Senior Managing Editor of Briefings on The Joint Commission, will be reporting back from the New York Executive Briefings.
Brian Driscoll
AHAP Director
