Joint Commission & Patient Safety

The Joint Commission functions to improve healthcare for Americans by evaluating healthcare facilities and accrediting those that meet specified national standards of care. One aspect of healthcare evaluated by the Joint Commission is patient safety, which affects all healthcare consumers. Healthcare consumers and medical providers and facilities alike can benefit from patient safety standards developed by the Joint Commission.

Types

• The Joint Commission sets national patient safety goals on various aspects of medical care and services. The types of medical care with these patient safety goals include ambulatory care and behavioral health care; in addition, services provided at critical access hospitals as well as larger hospitals; home care; laboratories; long term care facilities; and office based surgeries. The Joint Commission usually revises or updates types and standards for national patient safety goals each year.

Features

• Each patient safety goal set by the Joint Commission includes correctly identifying patients using at least two separate pieces of information, such as name and date of birth; this is done to avoid medical errors caused by misidentification of the patient. The other aspects of each goal vary, and are determined by the 29 member Board of Commissioners, based on scientific evidence and the current gold standards of medical care. Compliance with the national patient safety goals is public information on the Joint Commission's website, and is accessible by any healthcare consumer.

Considerations

• Participation in national patient safety goals and programs offered by the Joint Commission is voluntary. Becoming certified in patient safety by the Joint Commission often requires much staff time, training and effort, which is not necessarily feasible for all hospitals. Patients might not be aware of which hospitals have met the Joint Commission's patient safety goals. The Joint Commission's requirements on patient safety might change from year to year for a given measure and are complex, which might lead to confused, frustrated and overwhelmed medical staff.

Benefits

• National patient safety goals should improve health outcomes for anyone receiving medical or laboratory services. In addition, adherence to the goals could lead to more efficient delivery of services. The Joint Commission partners with other health authorities, including schools of medicine, hospital and physician associations, consumer advocates and health care providers when implementing patient safety goals, which might increase the likelihood hospitals will participate in the Joint Commission's patient safety program.

Potential

• As a leading medical authority in the United States, the Joint Commission has the potential to influence Congress in health care laws and guidelines. Participation in patient safety goals such as reducing the risk of healthcare associated infections might potentially decrease unnecessary complications and deaths of hospital patients. Data collected on patient safety by the Joint Commission has the potential to influence governmental agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control in setting national standards of care.