The Joint Commission's building maintenance program may change in 2009

Hi everyone -- It's Scott Wallask over at HCPro.

Well, it looks like The Joint Commission's building maintenance program—long heralded as a useful tool for facilities to use in complying with certain life safety maintenance requirements—may become less prominent in 2009.

However, don't expect The Joint Commission to let up on fire equipment inspection, testing, and maintenance, which has proven to be a heavily reviewed area by the accreditor's life safety surveyors.

The BMP's scoring advantages that facilities enjoy today may not stay in effect in proposed new life safety standards for 2009, consultant William Koffel told us this week. Koffel--owner of Koffel Associates, Inc., in Elkridge, MD--is familiar with the proposed standards, which will likely fall into a new life safety chapter in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals.

The proposed revisions may undergo field review by the end of the year, according to The Joint Commission. Full details on how the revisions affect the future of the BMP will come out during the field review, Koffel said.

The new chapter will include standards for the electronic Statement of Conditions, life safety assessmsents, and managing the Life Safety Code, according to The Joint Commission. There will also be scoring changes.

As of Wednesday afternoon, The Joint Commission had not returned a request for further comment.

Watch for further details in upcoming issues of Healthcare Life Safety Compliance.

Please post comments to us if you have any thoughts.