JCAHO recognizes CARF accreditation
Dual surveys eliminated beginning this fall
Soon you may be able to prepare simultaneously for surveys by both the Joint Commission on Accredita tion of Healthcare Organizations in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, and the Rehabilita tion Accreditation Commission (CARF) in Tucson, AZ.
The two groups have launched a joint accreditation initiative to cut duplication and integrate the values of hospital and rehabilitation accreditation. The agreement applies immediately to freestanding rehab hospitals and rehab units that are parts of networks. It's expected that after Aug. 1, the agreement will be expanded to all CARF-accredited units in hospitals. Those units may elect not to be re-evaluated by the Joint Com mission when it comes to survey the organizations of which the unit is a part. The Joint Commission accepted CARF accreditation after it compared its standards, survey processes, surveyor training, and decision-making processes with the rehab commission.
Each accrediting body will issue separate accreditation decisions based on its own standards and decision-making processes, as well as compiling its own survey report and charging separate fees for the combined surveys. However, surveyors from both the Joint Commission and CARF will visit the hospital at the same time and will conduct some joint activities, including document reviews, the opening conference, the leadership interview, departmental interviews, visits to patient care settings, daily briefings, and the leadership exit conference.
CARF and the Joint Commission began discussing collaborative surveys in 1993 to reduce the burden of accreditation while capitalizing on the expertise of the two organizations, says Donald E. Galvin, PhD, CARF's president and CEO. They crosswalked CARF and Joint Commission standards and found that non-rehab-specific standards do match up, says Chris MacDonnel, national director of CARF's medical rehabilitation division.
The benefit of the combined survey process will be the reduction of time, effort, and costs associated with preparing for two separate surveys. Because some of the conferences and interviews are conducted jointly, the amount of time for the cooperative survey will be less than that for two separate surveys.
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