JCAHO expands number of RFIs hospitals may receive during survey

For small hospitals (average daily census less than 100):

The change is most welcome for large hospitals. Those landing in CON and PDA have increased over the past year, experts say, because the previously established lower thresholds created a high probability that their surveys would result in an adverse decision. For example, a small hospital may have one to two surveyors for up to three days, but a large hospital may have three to five surveyors for up to five days, and therefore have more opportunity to find non-compliance areas and issue RFIs.

The number of organizations in CON or PDA so far this year and how the process to overturn the decisions was not known at press time. Requests for comment from the JCAHO were not immediately returned.

The threshold changes and split between small and large hospitals is "a step in the right direction," according to Bud Pate, REHS, a consultant with The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro.

"This kind of adjustment is long overdue," Pate says. "But it's unfortunate they had to wait until the end of the first quarter of the year to make it right for all the people who've been on tenterhooks."

According to Cappiello's email, the changes will be outlined in the JCAHO's May issue of its publication Perspectives, which all accredited organizations receive.

HCPro will continue to follow this story and provide in-depth coverage and analysis in the May issue of Briefings on JCAHO newsletter.