New Perinatal Safety Standards

The September issue of Perspectives introduced two new Provision of Care standards. They contain 13 elements of performance that detail perinatal safety standards. These new requirements take effect July 2020 and achieving them will take many steps. Use this information to get started.

New Perinatal Safety Standards

Perspectives did not publish the new standards. But there is a link to the TJC website’s prepublication standards and a new R3 report on this same subject.

The perinatal safety standards are much like this year’s safety goal modifications on suicide prevention. They require hospitals to select evidence-based tools, procedures, and guidelines to help shape your implementation of the new standards.

These new requirements will require a lot of thought, analysis, many drafts, edits and training. The R3 report issued August 21 on this issue is particularly helpful. Plus, it identifies references TJC used in developing each of the new elements of performance. And, it links to the technical advisory and standards review panel members. Knowing the physician and nursing leaders that shaped these new requirements will help you develop buy-in at your hospital.

Many references in the R3 come from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. One reference comes from the California Department of Public Health. Of further interest, the Joint Commission shared maternal mortality data at the Consultants Forum from 1999-2013. This highlighted improvements California has made in reducing mortality rates. This is in contrast to the national data which shows rates rising in the U.S. over that same period of time. In fact, the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed country and we are the only country with a rising death rate.

Hospital readers will have 10 months to get these new requirements up and running before the July deadline. Given the unpredictability of triennial survey scheduling and the risk of out of cycle, for-cause surveys, you should attack this issue quickly. While 10 months may sound like a long time, it is not, given the scope of these new requirements.

Take These Next Steps

Put together an implementation team now. Next, share these materials and develop a timeline and work plan to bring your implementation to a conclusion before July 1, 2020. Lastly, as with any good work plan and timeline, you also want to ensure that deadlines are being met in accordance with senior leadership’s expectations.

Patton Healthcare Consulting

Patton Healthcare Consulting provides Joint Commission Compliance Assistance and a full range of pre-survey and post survey services including basic building information requirements.

Contact our office at 888-742-4621, via email or through our website contact page to schedule a discussion of your needs and learn more about our compliance and readiness expertise.