SuccessFactors Job Profile Builder can make preparing for Joint Commission surveys go more smoothly.
Healthcare industry employees in hospitals, nursing homes, office-based surgery practices, home care providers, and laboratories are challenged to keep up with and learn new processes and procedures that save lives. But there are only so many hours in a day. Where can you find the extra time and resources to gain Joint Commission (formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) accreditation?
The Joint Commission is not the only accreditation agency in the healthcare industry, but it is by far the largest and most prestigious. Hospitals and other healthcare providers who receive Joint Commission accreditation have proved that they provide the highest level of performance and service to their patients. However, preparing for a Joint Commission survey is a challenging process for any healthcare provider, as it must examine its current processes, policies, and procedures relative to the current standards of care and prepare to improve any areas that are not currently in compliance.
Building healthcare job profiles
To obtain accreditation, healthcare organization staff members must be able to demonstrate proficiency in specific job competencies and receive performance evaluations based on specific job descriptions. Furthermore, the organization must be in compliance with the standards for at least four months prior to the initial survey. The SuccessFactors HCM Suite helps you simplify the Joint Commission survey process. Our Job Profile Builder (JPB) provides you access to a library of more than 13,000 skills, each with a definition and five levels of proficiency, from which you can build job profiles. You can modify the templates to fit your organization’s specific job description and evaluation needs. Additionally, skills are categorized and pre-mapped to job families and roles, giving you out-of-the-box content and reducing the work of building profiles from scratch. This allows administrators and managers to centrally store, update, approve, track, and view standardized job descriptions — crucial in ensuring a swift response to Joint Commission surveys.
Top reasons for seeking Joint Commission accreditation are to:
- Provide a competitive edge in the marketplace
- Provide professional advice and boosts the quality of staff recruitment and development
- Be recognized by insurers and third parties and, in some states, fulfill regulatory requirements
From this list, you begin to gain insight into a few key benefits of Joint Commission accreditation. Administratively, it increases your ability to recruit and retain high-performing clinical and administrative staff who will provide patients the quality care they expect and deserve. Additionally, it is a valuable marketing tool for attracting consumers who seek only accredited providers for their healthcare needs.
The objective of the Joint Commission’s survey is not only to evaluate the healthcare organization, but also to provide education and guidance that will help staff continue to improve the organization’s performance. Prospective patients who are looking for the highest-quality care possible will find research supporting the assumption that Joint Commission-accredited hospitals provide better-quality care when compared to non-accredited hospitals.
Additionally, a majority of state governments recognize Joint Commission accreditation as a condition of licensure and receiving Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement. Some general and professional liability insurance companies strongly encourage external accreditations, too. Prior to billing Medicare or Medicaid, they will ask for accreditation results such as from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Conditions of Participation and/or a certificate of compliance. The survey process evaluates actual care processes by tracing patients through their care cycle, analyzing key operational systems that directly impact the quality and safety of patient care.
Preparing for your next Joint Commission survey
All healthcare organizations, other than laboratories, are subject to a three-year accreditation cycle. The Joint Commission will provide the organization's accreditation decision, the date that accreditation was awarded, and any standards that were cited for improvement. Organizations deemed to be in compliance with all or most of the applicable standards are awarded the decision of accreditation.
By streamlining your preparation for the Joint Commission accreditation process, you can spend more time focusing on what’s really important — finding high-performing employees with the right skills, and who will provide high-quality healthcare to your patients.
