The Joint Commission update for peri-operative services-2009

As part of its continuous quality improvement efforts, The Joint Commission began a standards improvement initiative (SII) in October 2006, the result of which will be "felt" by most accredited organizations (ambulatory care organizations, critical access hospitals, home care, hospitals, and office-based surgery) on January 1, 2009. The remaining organizations (behavioral health, laboratory, and long-term care) will go through a similar experience on January 1, 2010. The essence of SII was the changes made by The Joint Commission through consolidating, rewording, revising, and restructuring of chapters, standards, and elements of performance (EPs). Although few new standards have actually been added, there are nuances that, if not noted, may cause considerable difficulty to organizations during upcoming accreditation surveys. This article discusses SII and the standards and EPs that impact and pose "opportunities for improvement" for peri-operative services.