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Patients’ plan of care helps comply with PC.4.10

Accreditation Connection, November 16, 2007

A patient's plan for care should give any caregiver who reads it an idea of what that patient's condition is at any point. "I think the plan of care is a Polaroid picture of the ongoing needs of the patient, a snapshot at one moment in time," says Elizabeth Di Giacomo-Geffers, RN, MPH, CNAA, BC, a healthcare consultant in Trabuco Canyon, CA. "And that picture could change in an hour, a shift, or a day, and must be updated to reflect the individualized needs of the patient."

Standard PC.4.10, which requires a plan for care, treatment, and services that is individualized and appropriate to "the patient's needs, strengths, limitations, and goals," often proves to be troublesome for facilities because the plans are not individualized and complete, says Di Giacomo-Geffers.

"Some plans of care are preprinted, and some have an area to check patient-specific needs that will individualize the plan of care, but not everyone writes the patient's individual needs," says Di Giacomo-Geffers. "They've developed a nice form or tool that isn't being taken advantage of, which says to me it's more of a knowledge deficit and that they just need reeducation."

Access the full story in the November issue of Briefings on The Joint Commission; access is free for subscribers, nonsubscribers can sign up for a 30-day free trial of BOJExtra! or purchase a copy of the story for $10 by clicking here.

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