ED Accreditation Update
JCAHO clarifies confusion over goal
There has been a significant amount of confusion among ED managers and others regarding a new national patient safety goal on patient suicides, according to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
In terms of the ED, the revised goal applies only to patients whose primary reason for coming into the ED is to obtain treatment for emotional or behavioral disorders, according to Gigi Acevedo, RN, MSN, associate director of standards interpretation at the Joint Commission. "For patients with other conditions who also happen to have psychiatric diagnosis, or when the staff has concern about self-harm, we encourage hospitals to do a suicide assessment, but we will not survey or score for that in their accreditation survey," she says. For example, when a psychiatric patient comes in with a sprained ankle, the organization does not need to assess for suicide risk "unless the organization is concerned about the patient doing some type of self-harm," Acevedo explains.
The goal does apply to hospitals that don't have designated psychiatric services, she emphasizes.
There has been a significant amount of confusion among ED managers and others regarding a new national patient safety goal on patient suicides, according to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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