Joint Commission Behavioral Health Update
January 2016
In This Issue:

Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
Happy 2016 to all of you!

This month, we are proud to commence our 17th year of serving the behavioral healthcare industry. We have now worked with more than 200 behavioral healthcare organizations across the country and are very gratified with the relationships that we have forged with our clients!

We pledge to continue to support your accreditation readiness efforts this year.

With that goal in mind, we are providing updates this month on some important topics for psychiatric hospitals and behavioral healthcare organizations. Our first article covers the new Behavioral Health standards for eating disorder programs. Our second article provides information on an important requirement for psychiatric hospitals: how to respond to changes in a patient's condition - a requirement more frequently cited during TJC surveys this past year.

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  to your colleagues.

Best regards for a happy, healthy, and fulfilling New Year!

Anne Barrins
President/CEO
Due for your triennial TJC survey?

If your last survey was more than 18 months ago, you are in the "window of survey availability." We can help position you for success by conducting a mock survey. Our team will prepare you for all the 2016 interviews and tracer activities. Contact us soon to get on our schedule.

1-877-546-7206
Tip of the Month
The Joint Commission 2016 Survey Activity Guide is now available. If you expect a survey in 2016, be sure to review this document. It's a step-by-step guide to each component of the survey process; a must-read for all survey coordinators!
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?
"Our Barrins & Associates consultant was able to very quickly review and comprehend how we as an organization operate. He tailored his presentation to what we specifically need to do rather than a vague general approach. He also began using our language (forms, titles, groups) within 15 minutes of meeting us. When he left, we all felt he had a great plan for moving us forward!"

Jim Fay
Senior Clinical Director
GenPsych, P.C.
Bridgewater, NJ
Woman in Therapy Session
Eating Disorder Programs
New Requirements
The Joint Commission has finalized new requirements for accredited behavioral health organizations that treat individuals with eating disorders. The new requirements go into effect July 1, 2016. They are the result of collaboration between the TJC Behavioral Health Care Accreditation Program and leaders of prominent eating disorder programs throughout the country. The goal is to offer specific BH standards that focus directly on eating disorder programs and support best practices in the field.
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Responding to Changes in a Patient's Condition
In working with our psychiatric hospital clients, we have noted a standard in the Hospital manual which sometimes gets overlooked. That standard is PC.02.01.19 in the Provision of Care chapter: "The hospital recognizes and responds to changes in a patient's condition."

The rationale behind this standard is that a significant number of critical inpatient events are preceded by warning signs prior to the event. A majority of patients who have cardiopulmonary or respiratory arrest demonstrate clinical deterioration in advance. Early response to changes in a patient's condition by specially trained staff may reduce these types of events and avoid patient mortality. For psychiatric hospitals, the ability to respond to these events is especially critical since this is typically not their area of expertise. Thus, prompt identification and appropriate treatment or timely transfer to a medical facility is critical.
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NEW CLIENTS!
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome seven new clients: West Oaks Hospital in Houston, Texas, Sobertec in San Clemente, California, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Programs in Pasadena, California, Steps to Recovery in Levittown, Pennsylvania, Ideal Option in Spokane, Washington, Surf City Recovery in Huntington Beach, California, and Wellmore Behavioral Health in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Congratulations Corner
Congratulations to our client Simple Recovery in Huntington Beach, CA, who recently achieved initial Joint Commission accreditation!
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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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