Nursing

The tracer process: JCAHO’s priority focus areas

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, March 3, 2006

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Based on these key areas, the JCAHO surveyor will pull patient charts and "trace" their care processes throughout the continuum of care. The surveyor will study charts, talk to patients' care providers, and may interview patients or their families during the survey. The key areas are:

1. Assessment and care of patients

2. Credentialed practitioners

3. Infection control

4. Medication management

5. Orientation and training of staff

6. Communication within the organization

7. Equipment use

8. Information management

9. Organizational structure

10. Physical environment

11. Rights and ethics

12. Patient safety

13. Quality improvement expertise

14. Staffing issues

Editor's note: The above excerpt is from the online course, "Survey Series: Tracer Methodology Training." For more information on this and other courses in our library, go to www.hcprofessor.com.



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