Joint Commission

How To Set And Track Hang-Time Limits For Flexible Endoscopes

October 7, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Hang-time limits for flexible endoscopes have been a hot topic among GI, Infection Control and Sterile Processing professionals for the last several years. With no consensus emerging in hang-time limits (sometimes called an endoscope’s shelf life), hospitals are left to make this decision on their own. With different stakeholders within the hospital looking at different […]

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How To Create A Digital Audit Trail For Your Tissue

January 10, 2018 / Clinical Documentation, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

Tissue and related specimens present a unique tracking challenge for hospitals and surgery centers – these often expensive and occasionally one-of-a-kind items are required to be closely monitored during the hospital’s handling of each unit. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), state Departments of Health and hospital accreditation bodies, such as The Joint Commission

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How To Create An All-Electronic Audit Trail For Your Scopes

January 4, 2018 / Clinical Documentation, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Flexible endoscopes present a unique challenge for hospitals to track and manage – these expensive medical instruments must be quickly re-processed after usage in order to provide the required instrumentation for the next procedure, yet they must undergo rigorous, time-consuming reprocessing after every use to ensure the highest levels of patient safety. Due to different

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The Difference Between Passing a Joint Commission Survey and Continuous Improvement

October 12, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance, Tissue Management /

With the recent scrutiny placed on the Joint Commission (TJC) in publications like the Wall Street Journal, TJC has found itself on the defensive regarding its accreditations and how it holds hospitals accountable for safety violations. In response, TJC has been trying to open up a dialogue with the public about the importance of its

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How Michigan Medicine Tracks Tissue To Meet Joint Commission Standards and Reduce Costs

November 8, 2017 / Clinical Documentation, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (U-M) in Ann Arbor, Michigan is one of the nation’s top medical centers, and was recently named the #6 hospital in the United States according to the 2016-17 Best Hospitals Honor Roll rankings by US News and World Report.  As the main medical campus of the Michigan Medicine

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Establishing a Successful Scope Management Strategy

September 21, 2018 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Hospitals and healthcare providers are under increased scrutiny by The Joint Commission (TJC), the FDA, DNV and even Congress to improve the documentation practices around flexible endoscope usage. There are articles in the media seemingly every day about how an endoscope manufacturer or a hospital was cited, sued or otherwise put in a negative light

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Meeting Joint Commission Tissue Tracking Requirements

October 7, 2021 / Clinical Documentation, Joint Commission, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Regulatory Compliance, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

Creating safe, efficient and accurate tissue management processes has become a top priority for PeriOperative departments across the country. Regulatory requirements designed to protect patients continue to evolve and expand with the growth of tissue usage and advances in surgical life-saving and life-enhancing procedures. Approximately 1.75 million people are currently receiving tissue implants annually just

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Are Public Inspection Reports Coming?

October 9, 2017 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Following the Wall Street Journal article that questioned the validity of The Joint Commission’s accreditation practices, the government has stepped up inquiries into the hospital accreditation process. The Joint Commission, as the largest accreditation agency, is now under increased scrutiny and hospitals may be exposed as a result. Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) has sent a

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The Joint Commission Update on Threat of Improperly Sterilized or High-Level Disinfected Equipment

October 9, 2017 / Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

The Joint Commission (TJC) recently released a Quick Safety update titled “Improperly Sterilized or HLD Equipment – A Growing Problem”. The release was issued in response to what TJC perceives as a growing threat to patient safety.  In their analysis, they state that in 2016, 74% of immediate threat to life (ITL) declarations issued by

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Spotlight on New Best Practices For Scope Reprocessing

October 9, 2017 / Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

The recent issues surrounding scope-related infections continue to gather media attention.  A recent article by the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette follows the story of how UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA has managed its endoscope reprocessing since a scope-related outbreak in 2012.  In the article, UPMC points to its adoption of additional steps added to its reprocessing guidelines since

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