JCI Accreditation News: New Rules, Policy, and Protocol Effective 1 January 2009
The Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation Committee has approved several changes to its Hospital Accreditation Decision Rules, Focused Survey Policy, and Threat to Health and Safety Protocol, all of which are effective for all JCI–accredited organizations starting 1 January 2009. The entire revised Rules, Policy, and Protocol are available for free download in electronic format below.
Joint Commission International Hospital Accreditation Decision Rules
The significant revisions to the Joint Commission International Hospital Hospital Accreditation Decision Rules include the following:
° The one-year special decision rules for the new 3rd Edition hospital standards ended as of 31 December 2008 (formerly
Appendix A to the 2008 Decision Rules).
° The International Patient Safety Goals are considered in the scoring rules as a “chapter” of standards rather than with
special rules. This raises the scoring threshold on the Goals.
° The rule for chapter-level aggregate score is raised from “7” to “8”. The rule for overall aggregate score for all chapters is
raised from “8.5” to “9”.
° A new decision rule is introduced to identify organizations that previously met the decision rules in spite of numerous “Not
Met” and ‘Partially Met” measurable elements. The new rule identifies organizations that, at the time of their survey, were
above the mean (three or more standard deviations) for measurable elements scored Not Met or Partially Met.
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° All follow-up for organizations that do not meet the decision rules is to be done by a Focused Survey visit that permits the
evaluation of all the standards that were less than fully met. Written follow-up reports will no longer be used for providing
evidence of standards compliance for these organizations; instead, a strategic implementation plan will be requested for
all standards that were less than fully met.
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Click here to download the new rules.