EC Standard Top Offenders
Has your hospital been doing better than in years past in the Environment of Care (EC) area? Most are, according to data from the Joint Commission. Under the old Plant, Technology, and Safety Management standards, historically, more than 60% of hospitals got a Type I on Safety Management, 50% would do poorly in Life Safety, and about 30% to 35% would get Type I’s for Equipment and Utilities Management, respectively. The following are the top-10 and bottom-10 EC standards cited in 1996, based on roughly 923 surveys. (A score of 3, 4, or 5 typically brings a Type I recommendation.)
Top 10 EC standards receiving scores of 3, 4, or 5:
1. 11.4% (105 hospitals) EC.2.10 Fire drills are conducted regularly
2. 10.2% (94 hospitals) EC.2.2 The safety plan is implemented
3. 9.8% (90 hospitals) EC.1.1 Statement of conditions and plans for improvement are satisfactory
4. 7.2% (66 hospitals) EC.2.4 The hazardous materials plan is implemented
5. 7.2% (66 hospitals) EC.2.7 The medical equipment plan is implemented
6. 6.9% (64 hospitals) EC.1.3 There is a safety plan
7. 6.3% (58 hospitals) EC.1.8 There is a medical equipment plan
8. 6.2% (57 hospitals) EC.1.9 There is a utilities management plan
9. 6.1% (56 hospitals) EC.2.8 The utilities plan is implemented
10. 6.0% (55 hospitals) EC.1.4 There is a security plan
Bottom 10 EC standards receiving scores of 3, 4, or 5:
1. 0% (0 hospitals) EC.1.2 Hospitals use the American Institute of Architects minimum guidelines for construction
2. 0% (0 hospitals) EC.4.3.2.1 Number of patients in room is appropriate to goals, age, clinical needs
3. 0% (0 hospitals) EC.4.4.2 Patients’ needs to be outdoors are accommodated unless contraindicated
4. 0.1% (1 hospital) EC.4.2.2 Patients wear clothing suitable to their clinical condition
5. 0.1% (1 hospital) EC.4.3.2 Sleeping rooms have doors for privacy unless contraindicated
6. 0.1% (1 hospital) EC.4.4 Patients’ interests, skills, personal growth opportunities are supported through activities
7. 0.2% (2 hospitals) EC.3.3 Safety officer implements safety committee recommendations and monitors effectiveness
8. 0.2% (2 hospitals) EC.4.1.1 Personal hygiene articles are readily available to patients
9. 0.3% (3 hospitals) EC.4.1.2 Closet and drawer storage space are available for patient use
10. 0.4% (4 hospitals) ED.4.3.1 A telephone is available for private conversations
The following are the most recent environment of Care (EC) Type I recommendation statistics from the Joint Com mis sion, representing 620 surveys between January and July of 1997. Each hospital received a score of 3, 4, or 5.
13.7% The % of hospitals cited on EC.2.10, the standard on fire drills
9.7% The % of hospitals cited on EC.1.1, the standard covering the Statement of Conditions (SOC) and the resulting plans for improvement (PFIs)
5.2% The % of hospitals cited on EC.2.6, the standard requiring that the life safety management plan be implemented
4.5% The % of hospitals cited on EC.2.2, the standard requiring the safety management plan be implemented, and on EC.2.9, the standard requiring emergency preparedness drills
4.2% The % of hospitals cited on EC.5, the standard requiring that a smoking policy be disseminated and enforced, and on EC.1.4, the standard requiring that there be a written security management plan
4.0% The % of hospitals cited on EC.2.3, the standard requiring that the security management plan be implemented, and on EC.2.4, the standard requiring that the hazardous materials and wastes plan be implemented
3.9% The % of hospitals cited on EC.2.8, the standard requiring the utilities management plan be implemented
Altogether, the EC chapter has accounted for 12 of the top 35 scores of 3, 4, or 5 given out in 1997 surveys.
Source: Health Care Safety Institute, Beverly, MA; http://www.hcsinstitute.com.
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