The Joint Commission recently announced new and revised emergency management standards for home care programs. These revised standards become effective July 2023.
Revised Emergency Management Standards for Home Care
The changes in the Emergency Management (EM) chapter include a new numbering system, elimination of redundant requirements, and the addition of new requirements. This restructuring resulted in a reduction in the number of elements of performance by over 30% in the home care program. The format closely follows the revised standards published for hospitals last year.
If you are part of a larger, multiprogram or tailored organization, you may have already updated your organization-wide EM documentation. However, if you did not, or you are a freestanding home care agency, you now have six months to revise your program. The Perspectives article provides a link to the prepublication standards. In addition, they are posted to the prepublication section of the Joint Commission website.
When reviewing the revised emergency management standards for home care, pay close attention to the number of elements of performance that require documentation. These “D” elements mean you can’t just say you meet the requirement. Instead, there must be a policy, meeting minutes or some form of documentation of your compliance or description of how your organization implemented that new requirement.
Patton Healthcare Consulting
Whether your needs are specific to home care or incorporate the complex needs of the entire hospital system, Patton Healthcare Consulting provides a complete range of Joint Commission and CMS Compliance Assistance and a full range of pre-survey and post survey services.
We serve more than 350 hospitals, behavioral health care organizations, ambulatory clinics and home care companies nationwide—hospitals ranging from critical access hospitals to the largest health systems. Contact us at (888) PHC-INC1 for more information.
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