JCAHO will use HCFA restraint rule
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has decided to use the "one-hour standard" mandated by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) for restraint and seclusion of patients having psychiatric or other behavioral disorders, clarifying a confusing discrepancy between the two organizations.
HCFA’s interim final rule on patients’ rights requires that any individual placed in restraint or seclusion be seen face to face by a physician or other licensed independent practitioner within an hour of that action.
In order to maintain its federal deemed status relationship, JCAHO announced in late August that it would use the one-hour standard in surveys starting Sept. 1. HCFA and JCAHO are in discussions about HCFA’s patients rights conditions of participation and JCAHO’s standards.
Mark Covall, executive director of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems, says it is possible, but highly improbable, that the dialogue could cause HCFA to change its standard. The American Hospital Association has challenged the one-hour rule in a suit filed last summer.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content