NAMES IN THE NEWS
The Joint Commission Revises H&P Requirements; Receives Continued Deeming Recognition From CMS
DECEMBER 2020
The Joint Commission of Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, recently announced revisions to its requirements for ambulatory healthcare organizations and office-based surgery practices related to performing history and physical examinations prior to operative or surgical procedures.
The revisions—which will become effective July 1, 2021—will affect three elements of performance (EPs) at Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services (PC) Standard PC.03.01.03, including a new EP 19 that requires organizations to develop a policy that identifies when history and physical examinations are required. This new EP replaces the previous EP 6, which will be deleted.
The revisions align all applicable ambulatory care settings with changes made for deemed-status ambulatory surgery centers in March in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rules on burden reduction.
View the prepublication standards.
The organization also received continued deeming recognition from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to accredit ASCs seeking participation in Medicare or Medicaid programs, according to a release. The deeming recognition is effective December 20, 2020, through December 20, 2024.
By renewing the deeming recognition, CMS determined that The Joint Commission’s accreditation standards and survey process meet or exceed those established by CMS. Accreditation is voluntary and seeking deemed status through accreditation is an option. Organizations seeking deemed status may choose to be surveyed either by an accrediting organization or state surveyors on behalf of CMS. All deemed status surveys are unannounced.
“The continued deeming recognition from CMS will allow us to continue to work closely with ambulatory surgery centers across the nation to achieve and maintain accreditation to improve patient safety and quality of care,” said Pearl Darling, executive director of Ambulatory Care Accreditation Program at The Joint Commission, in the release. “Accreditation has been particularly valuable over the past several months as many ambulatory organizations have utilized our required infection prevention and control and emergency management plans to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19.”
The Joint Commission launched its Ambulatory Care Accreditation Program in 1975 and currently accredits more than 2,200 freestanding ambulatory care organizations.