After a successful mock survey in January, teams across the organization are anxiously awaiting the official visit from the Joint Commission. While visits are unannounced, we’re anticipating their arrival in late April or May.
To help our teams get ready, new Education Carts were rolled out across the Medical Center, The Woodlands and West Campuses and have had nearly 1,500 interactions with team members. The carts have proven to be a fun way to test and refresh everyone’s skills and knowledge and engage with leaders.
“The carts have been a big hit,” said Lindsay Meade, assistant clinical director, Perioperative Services. It’s fun way to help everyone get prepared and in the right mindset for the survey. We want to put our best foot forward and getting team members to buy in will help ensure our success.”
Be on the lookout for the Education Cart rolling in to your unit. Other ways to get prepared include reading the Tip of the Week and reviewing the Joint Commission SharePoint site.
The feedback given during the mock survey reinforced what we’re doing well and identified the biggest areas of improvement. While there are specific directives for each unit, some general trends and key areas of opportunity emerged:
- Equipment: ability to speak to what is clean and what is dirty in the environment
- Crash Carts: ensure logs are complete
- Tape: Tape Removal Day is April 6
- Medication and Sharps: secure medications and sharps
- Inpatient Dashboard: leaders to monitor documentation to help remind and educate
The Joint Commission’s mission is to make health care a high-reliability industry by ensuring a commitment to continuous improvement in patient care. Our accreditation from the Joint Commission provides “deemed status” for CMS reimbursement, as well as shows our commitment to excel in providing safe, effective, high-quality care.
