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The JCAHO makes infection control a focus area of unannounced surveys

Hospital Safety Connection, July 16, 2003

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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) plans next year to shift the way it conducts random unannounced surveys, focusing instead on hot health care topics such as infection control.

Under the current accreditation process, the JCAHO identifies fixed and variable performance areas by looking at grid areas, or top Type I violations. But beginning in 2004, the accreditor will concentrate on critical focus areas instead of grid elements.

The Accreditation Committee of the JCAHO's Board of Commissioners this week approved the following fixed performance areas for 2004:

* Infection control

* Staffing

* Medication management

* National Patient Safety Goals that are relevant to an organization's care and services

A sample of 5% of organizations accredited under the JCAHO's ambulatory care, behavioral health care, home care, hospital, and long-term care programs are randomly selected for unannounced surveys each year. Random unannounced surveys will end in January 2006, when the JCAHO begins conducting all regular accreditation surveys on an unannounced basis.

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