Joint Commission Behavioral Health Update
January 2017
In This Issue:

Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
Happy 2017 to all of you!
 
This month, we are proud to commence our 18th year of serving the behavioral healthcare industry. We have now worked with more than 250 behavioral healthcare organiztions nationwide and are very gratified with the relationships we have forged with our clients!
We pledge to continue to support your TJC and CMS compliance 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 requirements for outcome measurement. Our second article provides information for psychiatric hospitals on the new antimicrobial stewardship standards that went into effect 1/1/17. 

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
Anticipating a TJC Survey in 2017?
Be ready for the new standards effective January 2017 and how the SAFER matrix impacts the survey process. Contact us now to schedule a mock survey. We guarantee it's the best preparation for your 2017 TJC survey!
1-877-546-7206
Tip of the Month
The 2017 TJC Survey Activity Guide has been published. Be sure to review it and get updated on any changes to the Documents List and the activities included in the various survey sessions. The SAG is an invaluable tool for survey preparation!
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?
" We have used Barrins & Associates Consulting for the past four years for TJC and CMS compliance and have been extremely satisfied with our partnership. Their expertise is well established and we have found them to be consistently knowledgeable and thorough with a keen ability to connect with the professionals they're working with ."

Kevin Young, FACHE
President
Adventist HealthCare Behavioral Health & Wellness Services
TJC Approves RevisionSto Behavioral Health Outcome Measures Standard
Effective January 2018
TJC has approved revisions to the standard in the Behavioral Health manual related to outcomes measurement. The revisions require BH organizations to assess outcomes of care, treatment, or services by using a standardized tool and go into effect January 1, 2018.
Continue Reading >
Prepare for Focus on Antimicrobial Stewardship during 2017 Hospital Surveys
In our October 2016 newsletter, we covered the new TJC requirements on antimicrobial stewardship. Now, it's clear that TJC is incorporating a significant emphasis on this topic into the 2017 survey process for hospitals. The recently released 2017 Survey Activity Guide provides information on how surveyors will weave the topic of antimicrobial stewardship into the different sessions.
Continue Reading >
NEW CLIENTS
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome three new clients:
Michigan Modern Psychology in southeastern Michigan, Beach City Treatment in Huntington Beach, California, and Shoreline Treatment in San Clemente, California.  We are pleased to be working with these organizations on regulatory and accreditation compliance. 
Congratulations corner!
Congratulations to our client ASAP Rehab in Pasadena, California, who recently achieved initial Joint Commission accreditation! 
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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