Joint Commission Introduces New Telehealth Accreditation Program
The Joint Commission this week announced its new Telehealth Accreditation Program for eligible hospitals, ambulatory and behavioral health care organizations.
The program, which goes into effect July 1, is designed to provide updated and more streamlined standards to help organizations offering telehealth services establish structures and processes to help deliver safer and higher quality virtual care.
WHY IT MATTERS
The new Telehealth Accreditation Program According to the committee, it has been specifically developed for healthcare organizations that exclusively provide care, treatment and services via telehealth.
The new program’s requirements are similar to other Joint Commission accreditations, including requirements for information management, patient identification, medication management, and credentialing and privileging.
But there are requirements specific to the new accreditation program, such as streamlined emergency management requirements to provide care and clinical support remotely rather than in a physical building.
In addition, there are new standards – which can be filtered based on the modality or service offered – for educating healthcare providers and patients on the use of telehealth platforms and devices – as well as other new standards focused on virtual care equipment, devices and connectivity.
Hospitals and health care systems with written agreements to provide care, treatment and services via telehealth to another organization’s patients have the option to apply for the new accreditation, according to the Joint Commission, which also extends existing telehealth and technology accreditations in its Ambulatory Center will replace. Health and behavioral health and human services programs.
THE BIG TREND
The independent, nonprofit Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest (founded in 1951) and largest healthcare standards-setting and accrediting body, accrediting and certifying more than 22,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States.
In recent decades, one of the major focuses has been on health information technology, such as EHR safety features, transfer alerts, patient education, clinical quality metrics, health equity, and more.
ON THE RECORD
“Telehealth use in the United States increased 154% during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and stabilized at levels 38 times higher than in 2019,” said Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, president and CEO of the Joint Commission, said in a statement.
“As telehealth continues to evolve, it was imperative to create a new accreditation program to provide a framework to support patient safety integrity regardless of the care environment,” he added. “Our new Telehealth Accreditation Program helps organizations standardize care and reduce risk,” he added, “so that all patients, including those who obtain services remotely, receive the safest, highest-quality care with results that are consistent with traditional institutions.”
Mike Miliard is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.