Joint Commission Accreditation In Health Care

JCAHO Annual Report

It is essential to conduct continuous evaluation of the health care systems with regards to the quality of care. Health care is a very sensitive sector as it is mandated to provide quality care as well as ensuring patient safety. For these reasons, it is essential to have an organized body that will ensure the standards of quality are the same throughout all health care facilities. This crucial service is provided by the Joint Commission (JCAHO). The body provides standards that are then used to accredit health care facilities.

There are tremendous benefits of having a Joint Commission accreditation. One of them is the help institutions get to strengthen efforts in patient safety. This will provide an indication to potential

clients that the health care institution prioritizes on patient safety and are continuously improving their performance to guarantee high quality care. This means that the local community has confidence in the safety and quality of care.
The Joint Commission accreditation can also be used in providing competitive edge in the market.

Given the privatization of healthcare, most health care facilities that want to guarantee the quality of their services. Thus, having accreditation makes it possible for them to secure more clients. Another benefit is the reduction in medical errors or provision of low quality care as all health care institutions apply state-of-the-art strategies to ensure continuous improvements in patient care and safety.

Health care institutions that have Joint Commission accreditation can reduce their cost of liability insurance coverage. This is made possible due to enhanced risk management efforts. There are also continuous education and support on what in which accredited institutions can improve their services. The accreditation also affects the way staff recruitment and development is carried out as it ensures only qualified staff are employed. There is also the notion of integrated care as the accredited health are organizations are well-positioned for the

future.
The highest level of accreditation is the achievement of the Gold Seal of Approval. This is achieved by ensuring that every aspect of the accredited institution is geared towards patient safety and high quality of care. The accreditation process will involve investigations or physical review of how staff members provide safety for patient’s care. This will include their involvement in educating patients about the risks and options that they can follow for their diagnosis and treatment. The accreditation institution will also find out if the rights of patients are protected, including their right to privacy. The review looks at how the health care organization evaluates condition of the patient, before, during and after diagnosis and treatment. The other key areas include how health care staff protect patients against infection and how they plan for emergency situations.
There are accreditations for different areas such as ambulance care, home care, behavioral care, home care, hospitals, nursing care, and laboratory among others.

An institution that has all is operations and facilities accredited is the one that is provided with the Gold Seal of Approval. To maintain such status, the health care organization must ensure continuous improvement in its services as well as staff development through regular training. There are also specific standards that guide each section of a health care organization for accreditation. These standards must be adhered to always. One of the health care facilities in my area that has Joint Commission accreditation is Corona Regional Medical Center located in Corona, CA. They are committed to providing high quality and safe care to their

patients.
The JCAHO provides annual reports that indicate the progress in accreditations and performance of various health care facilities. It also provides improvements in the standards as well as summary of performance of various areas. There are several core measures aimed at ensuring standardization of quality. One of them is the accountability process measure. The intention of this measure is to ensure patients receive the greatest outcome. The core measure is guided by research, accuracy, proximity, and adverse effects. By ensuring accountability of the health facility and its staff members, the quality of care is able to improve as the institutions will continuously strive to ensure they remain accountable to their actions. This minimizes medical errors as well as improves patient safety. For instance, through research, it is possible to identify evidence-based approaches to improving patient care. The health care facilities also own the research as the staff members are involved in data collection. The intention is to have a mechanism that makes it possible to identify areas of weaknesses to improve. The issue of accountability also makes it possible to closely monitor patient outcome. The accurateness of the process will indicate if care has been provided or not. It will also ensure effectiveness in the delivery of care to improve outcome. In the long-run, patients will rarely experience adverse effects as they were closely monitored and taken care of from the diagnosis to treatment. As the health care institution strives to ensure accountability, the level of care drastically improves as is the safety of the patient.