Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø Elevates Health Care Equity Standard to National Patient Safety Goal
Media Contact:
Maureen Lyons
Corporate Communications
(630) 792-5171
(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Illinois, January 10, 2023) – Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø announced it is elevating Leadership (LD) Standard LD.04.03.08 – which addresses health care disparities as a quality and safety priority – to a new National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) for all critical access hospitals and hospitals, as well as some ambulatory care organizations and behavioral health care and human services organizations that provide certain services, effective July 1, 2023.
Current requirements for Joint Commission-accredited organizations will not change. The intent behind the standard and associated elements of performance will remain the same; however, they will now be stated as NPSG Goal 16. The purpose of NPSGs is to improve patient safety – focusing on significant problems in health care and specific actions to prevent and solve them.
Accredited health care organizations will still be required to:
- Identify an individual to lead activities to improve health care equity.
- Assess patients’ health-related social needs.
- Analyze quality and safety data to identify disparities.
- Develop an action plan to improve health care equity.
- Act when the organization does not meet the goals in its action plan.
- Inform key stakeholders about progress to improve health care equity.
“The new National Patient Safety Goal will help increase the focus on improving health care equity, a global patient safety priority,” says Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, MACP, FACMI, president and chief executive officer, Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø. “Everyone needs a chance for safe, equitable and meaningful care. As such, equity must be the foundation for safety and quality in health care. By elevating the existing standard to a National Patient Safety Goal, we are emphasizing the importance for health care organizations to ensure oversight and accountability for health care equity.”
Following the implementation of NPSG Goal 16, Standard LD.04.03.08 will be deleted.
Information on the research used to develop the requirements, including rationales and references, are available in R3 Report, Issue 38: National Patient Safety Goal to Improve Health Care Equity. Additionally, the new NPSG is posted on Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø’s Prepublication Standards page until July 1.
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About Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø
Founded in 1951, Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø seeks to continuously improve healthcare for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating healthcare organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø accredits and certifies more than 22,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization, Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare. Learn more about Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Íøygfcmw¡¤(Öйú)Õ¾Èë¿ÚÖ±½Ó½ø at www.jointcommission.org.