Joint Commission defers ORYX for some hospitals
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, has deferred implementation of the new performance measurement requirements dubbed "ORYX" for free-standing psychiatric hospitals for one year.
The exemption extends to all other accredited behavioral health care entities providing treatment in mental health, chemical dependency, and mental retardation or developmental disabilities, and managed behavioral health care organizations. Those organizations are expected to begin participating in the ORYX initiative in 1998.
Electronic outcomes reporting required
The ORYX initiative was announced in February and requires accredited hospitals and long-term care organizations, unless specifically excused, to enroll in a Joint Commission- listed performance measurement system and to initially select and begin to report data on at least two clinical measures that together relate to at least 20% of the organization’s patient population.
Hospitals and long-term care providers must enroll now and begin submitting data no later than the first quarter of 1999. Integrated deliv-ery networks and health plans have similar requirements.
The Joint Commission has announced that it intends to extend the requirements to ambulatory care, behavioral health care and home care organizations, clinical laboratories, and long-term care pharmacies.
The number of measures an accredited organization must use will increase by two per year over the next four years, and the proportion of the patient or resident population addressed by the measures will increase by 20% per year over the same time frame.
The Joint Commission also anticipates that health status and satisfaction measures will be introduced into the spectrum of applicable measures.
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