From infection prevention and life safety, to the integration of AI in compliance monitoring, hospitals must navigate a wide range of regulatory and operational priorities—all while managing ongoing resource constraints.
This February, The Joint Commission (TJC) launched a new website with the intent of supporting healthcare organizations in developing their infection control (IC) and antimicrobial stewardship programs.
The Joint Commission (TJC) has put out several enhancements to its survey processes in 2025. One of the most notable is TJC’s redesigned survey report, put into action in January and applicable to all healthcare organizations that TJC accredits, certifies, and verifies. The commission wrote that...
With hurricane season starting in June and alarm bells being rung on the rise in global temperatures, it has never been more crucial for healthcare organizations to focus on their emergency preparedness and management plans. This is one area where accreditation can help, says Kurt Patton...
It seems to me that I’ve been looking at a lot of survey findings lately and there appears to be a strong undercurrent of findings that might or might not represent actual deficiencies in the physical environment.
There was a subsection of hospitals surveyed in 2023 that struggled with the notion of a continuity of operations plan (COOP), which, if I’m honest, kind of puzzles me. My sense is that without a fairly effective COOP (whether you call it that or not), an organization would have had a very...
Natural disasters are not going away any time soon—and the days of practicing casualty events and unscheduled utility disruptions as standalone events are probably gone forever.
The CMS Patient Safety Structural Measure (PSSM) went into effect this January for acute care hospitals and for cancer hospitals exempt from the Prospective Payment System (PPS). Built around five domains, the PSSM is meant to assess whether hospitals have a structure and culture that...
Because of the risk of physical injury, psychological trauma, or even death, CMS and Joint Commission (TJC) surveyors expect strict adherence to rules regarding patient restraints. There are times when hospitals and healthcare providers need to restrain a patient physically or chemically, but...
As we leave 2024 behind us, accreditation professionals and leaders should look ahead to the new year and the challenges it will bring. But a new year also brings new possibilities and opportunities, which is why IAQ spoke with John R. Rosing, MHA, FACHE, a...
