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The JCAHO will begin limited, random follow-up surveys

Hospital Safety Connection, August 17, 2005

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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) will be checking on its own proficiency through a series of follow-up visits to hospitals.

"The focus of these [additional] surveys will be to evaluate the effectiveness and consistency of the new survey process in determining organization compliance with Joint Commission standards," the JCAHO wrote in an update to its surveyors last month.

A set team of surveyors-including a Life Safety Code® specialist-will conduct these so-called random announced surveys at about 30 sites through March 2006. If the JCAHO asks a recently accredited hospital to participate in a follow-up survey, the medical center may decline if it chooses.

If the hospital agrees to the survey, it will not affect the facility's accreditation status unless the surveyors run into a situation of immediate jeopardy, according to the update, which a source close to the JCAHO provided to Safety Connection.

To read more about the random unannounced survey process, click here.

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