JCAHO Recommended Standards

JCAHO stands for Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The agency sets standards for health care to improve the care and services given by various health providers. The standards are meant to address each organization's performance in key areas. Each standard is given with expectations that frame how surveyors can evaluate the overall performance.

Types of Facilities

• JCAHO divides the standards to deal with specific facilities and the types of patients and services each facility renders. Hospitals have the most extensive requirements, and are checked every two years in order to keep their JCAHO certified status. Other standards affect ambulatory centers, behavior health care, home care, laboratories, long-term care facilities, critical access hospitals, disease-specific care, and health care staffing services. Most hospitals incorporate many of these categories, and therefore must pass all standards for the different sections that apply.

Medicare/Medicaid

• JCAHO standards must be met for facilities to be able to bill for Medicare and Medicaid covered costs. This helps keep patients with reduced payment insurance in facilities able to provide the best care. Hospitals and other facilities comply to ensure reimbursement for Medicare/Medicaid patients. This requirement keeps Medicare patients from receiving subpar care due to the reduced fees a facility can charge. Because of the growing number of Medicare patients, it has become increasingly important for hospitals to keep the organization's accreditation.

Patient Medication

• Medication errors can cause serious harm to patients, so JCAHO helped to develop the five patient rights to ensure the proper distribution of medication during any type of hospital visit or stay. These rights include verifying the drug, the dose, the route, the time and the patient by two methods of identification. JCAHO expanded on the patient rights by requiring health care providers to reconcile all medications the patient uses even outside of the hospital. This helps reduce adverse drug interactions, because without a full accounting, doctors cannot know what medications might cause a problem.

National Patient Safety Goals

• National patient safety goals were put into effect to increase the safety for all patients. Identifying patients correctly reduces medication errors as well as other mistakes within a hospital. This standard requires hospital staff to use at least two of eight patient identifiers to ensure the patient receives the correct treatment. JCAHO standards improve staff communication, which can expedite test results and lead to better patient care and overall outcomes. The standards offer clear guidance on proper cleaning techniques in all rooms and in all common areas to help reduce the spread of infection in hospitals --- for example, having hand sanitizer dispensers at the door of each room and at each sink for staff and visitors.