Joint Commission Behavioral Health Update
October 2015
In This Issue:

Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
Once again, the TJC Annual Behavioral Health Care Conference in Chicago last week was chock full of valuable information on best practices in behavioral healthcare and TJC initiatives. Stay tuned as we provide information on the conference topics in upcoming newsletters.

In our first article this month, we are sharing the Documents Lists that we use for mock surveys in order to help support your survey readiness efforts. Our second article updates readers on a topic on TJC's recently published list of Top Ten Compliance Issues and that is the cleaning of medical equipment. This will be of particular interest to our psychiatric hospital clients since we have seen an uptick in this survey finding.

We value your feedback on the newsletter. Please send us your comments and tell us what topics you would like to see in future issues. We look forward to hearing from you!  Also, feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues.

Best regards and enjoy the fall season in your part of the country!

Regards,
Anne Barrins
President/CEO
Are you a substance abuse provider considering TJC accreditation?

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Tip of the Month
Curious to see how the TJC BH surveyors will conduct tracers during your survey? Check out the Mock Tracers in the Video Gallery on the Behavioral Healthcare page of the TJC website.
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?
"Haven Behavioral Healthcare operate a network of seven behavioral health hospitals across the country and we partner with Barrins & Associates for TJC readiness across our system. Their expertise, professionalism, and responsiveness have brought us to a new level of TJC readiness and the results are showing in our excellent survey outcomes."

Michelle Spurlock
Senior VP Clinical Quality
Haven Behavioral Healthcare
Nashville, Tennessee
Survey Strategy
Preparation of Documents

The Document Review session has always been a component of TJC surveys. Years ago, it meant the surveyors spent hours poring over documents and, consequently, less time out visiting programs and units. Once the tracer methodology came along, that emphasis shifted (thankfully) and now surveyors spend more time doing tracers and less time on Document Review. However, the materials that are assembled for the Document Review remain important for two reasons.

 

Continue reading to find out those reasons now ...
Cleaning of Medical Equipment
Top Ten compliance issue for Hospitals
TJC recently published data on the "Top Ten" compliance issues for the first half of 2015. For hospitals, it was notable that the # 2 issue is the improper cleaning and disinfection of medical equipment, devices, and supplies. 54% of hospitals were cited for this issue. Although psychiatric hospitals have much less medical equipment and supplies than acute care hospitals, we have seen the trend for more citations on this issue with our own psychiatric hospital clients over the past few years. So, it's an important area to stay on top of as part of your continuous readiness program.
Congratulations Corner
Congratulations to our client Sunspire Health Hyde Park in Tampa, Florida who recently achieved initial Joint Commission accreditation!
Continue Reading >
NEW CLIENTS!
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome four new clients: SoCal Detox, located in San Clemente, CA, Halcyon Horizons, located in Santa Cruz and South Lake Tahoe, CA, Positive Sobriety Institute, located in Chicago, IL, and Senior Behavioral Center of Mayo Clinic Health System, located in Waycross, Georgia. We are pleased to support these organizations in their Joint Commission readiness efforts!
Barrins & Associates provides Joint Commission and CMS consulting services for the Behavioral Healthcare industry. Our clients include psychiatric hospitals and freestanding Behavioral Healthcare organizations. We specialize in providing Survey Preparation and Continuous Survey Readiness services for the Behavioral Healthcare industry. Barrins & Associates was founded by Anne Barrins who was a Joint Commission surveyor for 13 years.

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