Joint Commission to Increase Hand Hygiene Focus
Hospital Safety Insider, December 21, 2017
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
The Joint Commission (TJC) will soon be scrutinizing hand hygiene more closely.
Starting in 2018, if a surveyor from the accrediting organization witnesses an individual who directly cares for patients fail to perform required hand hygiene, the person’s healthcare organization will receive a citation under TJC’s Infection Prevention and Control (IC) standard IC.02.01.01, element of performance 2, which requires organizations to use precautions such as hand hygiene to reduce infection risk. In addition, healthcare facilities must meet National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 07.01.01, which requires them to implement and maintain a hand hygiene program.
The change, announced Thursday, will go into effect on January 1, 2018.
Previously, healthcare organizations were not penalized for an individual failure to perform proper hand hygiene if that organization had an otherwise compliant hand hygiene program. But under this change, if a surveyor spots an individual who does not properly wash his or her hands, the surveyor will cite the organization for a deficiency resulting in a Requirement for Improvement.
In 2004, TJC first required all healthcare organizations to implement hand hygiene programs and keep track of individual performance within that plan. Proper hand hygiene, of course, is critical for preventing infections in a healthcare setting.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
Related Products
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Created exclusively for healthcare facility managers, plant operations professionals, and directors of engineering, this...
-
Hospital Safety Insider
Stay on top of hospital safety requirements and best practices with our free, fast-paced weekly update.
-
Basic OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your outpatient...
-
Basic Dental OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your dental...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Skills of effective case managers
- Complications from immobility by body system
- ICD-10-CM coma, stroke codes require more specific documentation
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- The consequences of an incomplete medical record
- E-mailed
-
- Correctly bill ancillary bedside procedures in addition to the room rate
- Medicare fraud strike charges 243 healthcare providers for more than $700 million in false billing
- Integral insulin administration
- Hospital Billing from A to Z: 3- and 1-day rules
- History and development of shared governance
- Get the facts on coding for non-biodegradeable drug delivery implants
- Finding the right ratio of physicians and patients is essential for efficiency
- Ensuring clear and concise documentation critical for case managers
- Confusion Prevails Over M0102 and M0104
- Clearing up the confusion: CPT codes 76376 and 76377
- Searched
