More LS surveyor days for you
Trying to embrace brevity as the soul of wit on this one...
In the July 2025 edition of Perspectives, our friends in Chicago are indicating that (and this is effective June 30, 2025, so we're in this in T-minus 24 hours), depending on the complexity, patient volumes, etc. of your organization, you will probably be seeing more Life Safety (LS) surveyor days, as the survey process will be including an LS visit for any location in which care is provided under your hospital's CMS Certification Number (CCN). This means not only will healthcare occupancies be surveyed, but also outpatient locations (read that as business occupancies) where previously only clinical surveyors would "tread" (invoking the eternal dynamic of angels and fools).
From a practical standpoint, I think this should result in fewer nuisance findings from clinical surveyors who perhaps weren't as well-versed in the nuances of the physical environment as they might otherwise believe. The LS surveyor will be there to provide some direction (or re-direction, as the case may be) so that's a plus. But, I can also see an increase in findings across the board as the LS surveyors will be attentive to all those "behind the scenes" conditions that might not previously have been identified. My general prediction is that there will be an increase in findings, but they'll be a little simpler to deal with in as far as corrective actions go because they're based on clear regulatory requirements. And, yes, I recognize that the reduction of EC/LS standards and performance elements is going to make this rather complicated at the outset; but there is a possibility that this will ultimately result in an improvement to the survey process. I'm not necessarily convinced I'll be around to see it, but one must try to maintain a positive outlook on the future.
At any rate, I should also note that (at least for the moment), this applies only to the hospital accreditation program, so you folks in the critical access and other related "worlds" will have to wait a bit, though I'm betting it won't be long (cue The Beatles).
About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Chartis Group. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is the author of HCPro's Hospital Safety Director's Handbook and is an advisory board member for Accreditation and Quality Compliance Center. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.