The Joint Commission recently outlined risk assessments for healthcare facilities.
Here are five things to know:
1. The Joint Commission relies on organizations to develop assessment methods on an individual basis; the Joint Commission isn't prescriptive on how the risk assessments are performed.
2. There are tools organizations can use to achieve the right outcomes to mitigate to eliminate risk such as a root cause analysis or failure mode and effect analysis.
3. The risk assessments should be report, The Joint Commission advises, to a multidisciplinary team responsible for the Environment of Care Committee and Infection Control Committee.
4. The organization can generate a policy appropriate for them based on the risk assessment and then notify the right staff with a method for implementation.
5. Surveyors review risk assessment and associated policy for effectiveness and proper implementation.
The Joint Commission has published examples of the risk assessment in the Leading Practices portion of its website.