Impact of Joint Commission Accreditation Healthcare Organizations Standards

A job description is a written summary of the responsibilities related to a specific job and the skills and knowledge necessary for discharging those responsibilities effectively. The job description becomes a handy resource for human resource professionals and departmental heads when recruiting new people to fill in vacancies as well as for the purpose of evaluating performance. The job description is also an important component of the job specification, a document that includes task requirements as well as a profile of the ideal person for the job (Cascio 2003, p. 160).

Eventually, the minimum standards evolved and began to encompass physical safety, equipment and administrative standards. Survey teams started to branch out across the nation in an attempt to keep up with the increased demand for accreditation. As a result, the American College of Physicians, the AMA, and the Canadian Medical Association joined the ACS to form an independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals in

Once we understand requirements for the position, then next step is to define ways of meeting those needs. It includes the amount of resources and authority the position provides to fulfill the business need. A job description can be as simple as a list of tasks required by the individual holding the position. Formal job descriptions will include level of responsibility, expected outcome, including reporting line and other interactions. Once expectations, and means of attaining expectations are documented, then sketching ideal candidate will become easier.

Health care organizations generally volunteer to seek accreditations from the Joint Commission by allowing expert surveyors evaluate their facility. The surveyors are made up of a multi-disciplinary team that spends an average of two days inspecting health care facilities. The purpose for the inspection is to evaluate a health care facilities standards, staff, regulations, policies and procedures, and quality improvement, and performance measurement. The Joint Commission surveyors generally look to see if the organizations governing board is taking part in ensuring that the facilities has facilitated safety and quality assurance program.

I chose the monopolistically structured JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations). They are the only organization that determines whether hospitals or medical facilities are up to their standards enough to receive reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid. “The Joint Commission is a monopoly because it has unique statutory protection in the USA and collects $113 million in annual revenue; it is the only organization in the USA of this nature” (Joint Commission Requirements, 2009). This revenue is mainly from the fees it charges US hospitals for evaluating their compliance with federal regulations.

JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) Joint Commission Standards. 2000. Retrieved from www.jcaho.org/standard/jcstandards.html

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or JCAHO was founded in 1951 as a private nonprofit organization that established guidelines for the running and management of hospitals and health care facilities in the United States. According to its website (n.d.), JCAHO’s primary mission is, “To continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest

Once Job Analysis is complete, the next step is to define the responsibilities of the candidate to meet the needs of the position. Job description is basically a list of the tasks required of the employee holding the particular position defined in the job analysis. A Complete job description will include level of responsibility and the expected outcome. Once these attributes are defined and documented, finding the ideal candidate will become easier and more precise.

The roots of The Joint Commission began in the American College of Surgeons (ACS), founded in 1913, which eventually lead to voluntary onsite inspections of hospitals in 1918. In 1951, The American College of Physicians, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the Canadian Medical Association joined forces with the ACS to create the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH). JCAH was formed as an independent, not-for-profit organization whose primary purpose was to provide voluntary accreditation for meeting established minimum quality standards. It was not until 1970 that the standards of quality were reformed to represent the highest achievable levels, instead of minimum necessary levels. In 1987, the company was renamed the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which was shortened to today’s The Joint Commission after rebranding in 2007. (Stanberry, 2012)

There are many roles of the Joint Commission in accrediting medical facilities. The Joint Commission was founded in 1951 and is the nation’s largest accrediting body in health care. They evaluate nearly 21,000 health care organizations in the Unites States. (The Joint Comm, 2016) Once an organization earns the accreditation they are re-surveyed every three years unannounced. They are responsible for making sure that healthcare facilities are up to date on all standards, policies, and procedures. “Joint Commission accreditation can be earned by many types of health care organizations, including hospitals, doctor’s offices, nursing homes, office-based surgery centers, behavioral health treatment facilities, and providers of home care services

"With Joint Commission certification, we are making a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down. Joint Commission accreditation provides us a framework to take our organization to the next level and helps create a culture of excellence,” said Winnie Cullens, Accreditation Coordinator. “This is our fourth Joint Commission certification for our organization, and it shows that we are committed to maintaining excellence and continually improving the care we provide.”

The importance of receiving accreditation from the Joint Commission is critical for medical facilities because it represents high standards of quality assurance which

The history of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals is a story of the health professions’ commitment to patient care of high quality in the 20th century. According to Dr. Ernest Codman, founder of the accreditation system, which would enable hospitals to track every patient it treat long enough to determine whether or not the treatment was effective. If not, the hospital would figure out how to prevent similar failures in the future (Roberts, Coale & Redman, 1987).

This allows the candidate to fully understand what the job role involves before apply for the job. It allows candidates to figure out if they’re suitable for the requirements which the organisation is looking for, this can normally save time if the candidate believes the job role is not suitable for them.

It is important to identify the skills needed for new roles. This can be done by creating a job description for the role in questions. Furthermore, an organisation can identify, through the job description, whether the skills already exist within the organisation or if it is necessary for external recruitment.