The Joint Commission is trimming down or revising numerous quality standards and freezing domestic hospital accreditation fees in 2023 “in recognition of the many financial challenges hospitals and health systems continue to face.”
The cuts
follow a review the commission launched earlier this year to
identify any “above-and-beyond” requirements that were redundant, no longer
addressed an important issue or required time and resources that outstripped
any estimated benefits.
In total,
the Joint Commission said 168 standards (14%) are being cut and another 14 are
being revised, effective Jan. 1, 2023. These changes will be followed by a
second round of cuts and revisions the organization expects to have ready in
“approximately six months.”
The full list of discontinued standards outlines
changes affecting hospitals, critical access hospitals, ambulatory healthcare,
behavioral health care and human services, home care, laboratory services,
nursing care centers and office-based surgeries.
“The
standards reduction will help streamline Joint Commission requirements, as well
as provide some much-needed relief to healthcare professionals and
organizations as they continue to recover from the pandemic,” Jonathan B.
Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of the Joint Commission, said in the
announcement. “Our goal is to eliminate any standard that no longer adds value.
We want to have fewer, more meaningful requirements that best support safer,
higher-quality and more equitable health outcomes.”
The Joint
Commission said its review incorporated quantitative analyses of scoring
patterns and, when needed, literature reviews and expert input. The Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services also green lighted the changes.
The changes
come earlier than anticipated as the commission had initially said it was
targeting January for the review’s first batch of cuts.
The accreditation programs and associated
standards that will be impacted by The Joint Commission changes are as follows:
·
Hospital: 56 standards deleted and four revised
·
Critical Access Hospital: 37 standards deleted and four
revised
·
Ambulatory Health Care: 20 standards deleted and one
revised
·
Behavioral Health Care and Human Services: 9 standards
deleted and one revised
·
Home Care: 10 standards deleted and one revised
·
Laboratory Services: six standards deleted and one revised
·
Nursing Care Center: 12 standards deleted and one revised
·
Office-Based Surgery: 18 standards deleted and one revised
The impetus underlying these changes was
the desire to streamline standards and decrease administrative burdens for
health care providers. The announcement followed a comprehensive review
(announced in September 2022) of The Joint Commission standards to determine,
in each instance, whether (1) the standard addressed an important quality and
safety issue; (2) the standard was redundant; and (3) the time and resources
needed to comply with the standard were commensurate with the standard’s
estimated benefit to patient care and health outcomes. The review also took
into account the opinions of experts within the field.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) approved The Joint Commission’s proposed elimination and
revision of standards, and confirmed that the eliminated and revised standards
would not diminish or reduce CMS’ own regulatory requirements.
In addition to its standards changes, The
Joint Commission announced that it is not raising its accreditation fees for
domestic hospitals in 2023, in recognition of the financial challenges
hospitals and health systems are facing currently.
Many state and federal agencies
responsible for certifying or licensing health care providers accept The Joint
Commission accreditation as deemed compliance with their own safety and quality-related
certification and licensure standards. For those health care providers that
seek The Joint Commission accreditation, and particularly those providers that
rely on The Joint Commission accreditation for state and/or federal
certification or licensure purposes, The Joint Commission’s announcement that
it is streamlining its accreditation programs and processes is welcome news, as
it signals a likely reduction in the financial, staffing and administrative
burdens associated with achieving and maintaining such accreditation (and/or
certification or licensure).
Those interested may access the full list
of soon to be eliminated and revised standards on The Joint Commission’s
website. Note that The Joint Commission is also reviewing a second set of standards
for potential elimination or revision. An announcement relating to those
standards is expected in about six months.