On May 1, 2017, surveyors from The Joint Commission arrived at Texas Children’s Hospital to conduct an unannounced 5-day survey to ensure that we are meeting the expectations of delivering the safest, high quality care to our patients and their families.
Every three years, Texas Children’s undergoes an accreditation process by the Joint Commission survey team to access the organization’s compliance in patient care areas that contribute to positive outcomes, and to measure and improve performance.
This week, surveyors will visit Texas Children’s Medical Center Campus, Pavilion for Women, West Campus, The Woodlands, ambulatory clinics, dialysis, and health centers to evaluate our patient care processes through a variety of measurement tools including on-site observations, staff interviews, and tracer methodology. Just this year, the Joint Commission implemented a new survey methodology called Survey Analysis for Evaluating Risk (SAFER), a matrix that uses a color-coded grid to evaluate the likelihood of harm to patients, staff and visitors based on the number of occurrences.
“Our first day of the survey went very well, with surveyors citing positive feedback in several of our patient care and safety protocols,” said Texas Children’s Quality and Safety Director Elaine Whaley. “Since these accreditation surveys are unannounced, preparing for the Joint Commission survey has been a crucial, on-going and continuous process for our employees and staff.”
Next week, Connect will have an article with an overview of this week’s survey.
The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Approximately 77 percent of the nation’s hospitals are accredited by The Joint Commission.