Joint Commission softens emergency management enforcement, for now

Posted At : April 24, 2008 4:25 PM | Posted By : Scott Wallask
Related Categories: The Joint Commission,Emergency management

Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask over at HCPro jumping in today.

We obtained an interesting e-mail from a Joint Commission official that seems to indicate the heat is being turned down in 2008 on some of The Joint Commission’s provisions within emergency management standards EC.4.11 through EC.4.18 after hospitals expressed concerns.

At a meeting on April 17, a Joint Commission committee “approved not counting noncompliance with [certain] new emergency management standards in accreditation decisions during 2008,” wrote Gail Weinberger, director of accreditation and certification policy and administration at The Joint Commission.

“This means although noncompliance with these requirements will continue to be cited in an organization’s report and will be required to be addressed in an evidence of standards compliance (ESC), they will not be included in the count of the requirements for improvement contributing towards a conditional accreditation or a preliminary denial of accreditation decision,” Weinberger wrote. Her e-mail went to a list of “corporate liaisons” who weren’t specified in the copy we obtained.

The decision applies to the following specific requirements, as listed by Weinberger:

EC.4.11, EP 9 (documenting an inventory of assets and resources)
EC.4.11, EP 10 (monitoring quantities of assets and resources)
EC.4.12, EP 6 (meeting the 96-hour provisions)
EC.4.13, EP 7 (communicating with vendors of essential supplies and services)
EC.4.14, EP 8 (sharing of assets and resources with healthcare facilities outside the community))
EC.4.14, EP 10 (transporting patients, medications, equipment, and staff members to alternate care sites)
EC.4.15, EP 2 (coordinating security activities with outside agencies)
EC.4.15, EP 3 (managing hazardous materials and wastes)
EC.4.15, EP 5 (for long-term care facilities, identifying residents who might wander)
EC.4.16, EP 2 (training staff members about their roles in emergency response)
EC.4.16, EP 3 (communicating to licensed independent practitioners about their roles in emergency response)
EC.4.17, EP.4 (determining alternative supplies of fuel for building operations or essential transport activities)
EC.4.18, EP 4 (managing mental health needs of patients)
EC.4.18, EP 5 (managing mortuary services)
EC.4.18, EP 6 (documenting and tracking clinical information)