Ahead of National Quality Week, the Joint Commission released eight key facts about approving new accreditation standards.
The standards are developed by:
1. Identifying emerging quality and safety issues through scientific literature or The Joint Commission committee discussions, advisory groups or other professional organizations.
2. Draft standards are prepared using input from stakeholders.
3. Field-specific professional and technical advisory committees review accreditation standard drafts. The accreditation and certification standards are reviewed by the Standards & Survey Procedures Committee.
4. Draft standards are distributed nationally for comment.
5. Further revisions are made to draft standards if indicated.
6. The SSP Committee approves draft standards and provides them to the board of directors for comments.
7. Surveyors are educated about the new standards and requirements, and assessing related compliance.
8. Surveyors implement the new standards.