Accreditation programs may meet different needs
JCAHO, CHAP offer distinct advantages
As agencies across the country discuss the relative merits of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP), the Joint Commission’s executive director for home care, Maryanne Popovich, RN, MPH, says few actually have made the jump.
She acknowledges that many agencies are concerned about the costs of implementing JCAHO’s new ORYX initiative. But Popovich says her own survey of agencies leaving the Joint Commission doesn’t find many switching to CHAP.
"We monitor very closely their list and our list," Popovich says. "We have had approximately 60 organizations leave because of the costs, either ORYX or some other financial issue. We know of less than ten who have gone to another accrediting program." Some, she says, may be dropping accreditation entirely.
ORYX, a performance measurement program newly required for Joint Commission accreditation, asks agencies to collect outcome measures separately from the Medicare-required data collection for OASIS. Popovich says agencies are rightly concerned about the additional costs of this requirement and reports that JCAHO’s board is attempting to address that problem.
A sticking point appears to be the time lag for the release of OASIS data from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). "We’ve been in discussion with HCFA, but they would not give us definitive answers on utilizing the [OASIS] data, nor when organizations would be getting the data," Popovich says.
Meanwhile, CHAP president Jerold Cohen, MA, RN, says he has been approached by many agencies regarding CHAP accreditation since the ORYX requirement was announced. In contrast to the Joint Commission, he says, CHAP offers a free service that collects OASIS data and releases quarterly benchmarking reports to agencies.
"It’s the exact same data they’re already collecting for OASIS," he says. "We send them a piece of software that will search out the file they send to the state to make it as simple as possible. We’re not trying to overburden our agencies."
Cohen touts CHAP’s emphasis on customer service and patient care issues, as well as its focus on community health organizations. CHAP accredits about 1,000 home health, hospice, durable medical equipment, infusion, and public health providers.
By contrast, JCAHO accredits about 3,200 home health agencies alone, Popovich says. She says that gives surveyors a wealth of experience they can use to advise agencies.
She also notes that some managed care organizations only accept JCAHO accreditation, and some agencies tell her they’re actually leaving CHAP, saying they find the self-study process too complicated and worry about the possibility of a second survey only one year after the first.
Both Cohen and Popovich say fees vary from agency to agency, with both believing their program may be cheaper for some organizations.
Sources
• Jerold Cohen, President, Community Health Accreditation Program, 61 Broadway, New York, NY 10006. Phone: (800) 669-1656, ext. 242. Fax: (212) 812-0394. E-mail: [email protected].
• Lynda Friedman, Administrator, Gold Coast Home Health Services and Hospice, 911 E. Atlantic Blvd., Pompano Beach, FL 33060. Phone: (954) 785-2990. Fax: (954) 788-5034. E-mail: [email protected].
• Karen Joblove, Vice President of Patient Services, Visiting Nurse Association of Miami-Dade County, 7715 N.W. 48th St., Suite, Miami, FL 33166. Phone: (305) 477-8374. Fax: (305) 592-5499.
• Ann O’Sullivan, Rehabilitation Manager, Community Health Services, 901 Washington Ave., Portland, ME 04103. Phone: (207) 771-4441. Fax: (207) 879-4609. E-mail: [email protected].
• Maryanne Popovich, Executive Director for Home Care, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, One Renaissance Blvd., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181. Phone: (630) 792-5000. Web site: www.jcaho.org.
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