On September 13, 2022, The Joint Commission announced the beginning of a review of all Joint Commission “above-and-beyond” requirements, those that go beyond the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and are not on crosswalks to the CoPs.
During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), CMS put many requirements on hold. As the PHE nears its end, CMS has been reviewing the waived requirements to determine whether some should be permanently retired. The Joint Commission will similarly address the necessity of their own unique requirements.
Specifically, they will review each requirement to answer:
- Does the requirement still address an important quality and safety issue?
- Is the requirement redundant?
- Are the time and resources needed to comply with the requirement commensurate with the estimated benefit to patient care and health outcomes?
In addition to a direct review of each requirement, they will conduct quantitative analyses of scoring patterns and tests for redundancy. Where necessary, they also will conduct literature and field reviews and engage experts within the field.
