The Joint Commission is Eliminating 14% of its Standards Across Accreditation Programs

 

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.