Accreditation

JCAHO seeks psych hospitals to test measures

Accreditation Connection, August 7, 2006

Psychiatric hospitals are being sought by the JCAHO to test five performance measures that address quality of inpatient psychiatric care.

The five candidate measures, to be tested in JCAHO-accredited psych hospitals beginning January 1, are:

  • Assessment of potential risks, previous trauma, co-existence of substance abuse, and patient strengths
  • Restraint use
  • Seclusion use
  • Patient discharge on multiple antipsychotic medications
  • Provision of discharge assessment and aftercare recommendations to responsible community health providers upon discharge

    "There is significant interest among psychiatric hospitals in standardized measures such as these which will permit performance comparisons and benchmarking," says Jerod M. Loeb, JCAHO executive vice president, division of research, in a July 28 press release. "Participation in the testing process will allow psychiatric hospitals to begin gaining experience with the measures and play a part in shaping the final measure set."

    The JCAHO says a final set of measures should be available in fall 2008. Click here to learn more about the measures and how to volunteer.

     
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