TJC and CMS News for the Behavioral Healthcare Industry
October 2018
In This Issue:

Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
We hope the fabulous colors of fall have reached your part of the country and you're enjoying the cooler weather!
 
We have three important updates for you this month on TJC and CMS. The first one describes the process being piloted by TJC and CMS for concurrent validation surveys - a promising new approach! Our second article covers trends in TJC survey outcomes we're seeing in 2018. Our last article provides info on the 4 High Risk Areas now being closely scrutinized during TJC surveys.

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 and enjoy the fall season in your part of the country!

Anne Barrins
President/CEO
Trend for Early Surveys Continues

We are seeing more and more organizations experiencing their triennial surveys 3 - 5 months ahead of their 3 year anniversary.  Thus, survey readiness is critical!  Contact us now 
to schedule your mock survey so you're prepared and confident when the surveyors arrive.
 
1-877-546-7206
Tip of the Month
Check out TJC's answers to the top 5 questions about the 2018 revised Behavioral Health outcomes measurement standard in Dateline @ TJC.
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?
"Barrins & Associates recently worked with us on both TJC and CMS compliance. They were extremely knowledgeable, highly professional, very well organized and highly responsive to our specific needs. In addition to expert consultation, they also had a keen ability to work with our leadership team to help us develop workable solutions for implementing best practices and meeting all regulatory requirements. We highly endorse Barrins & Associates as TJC and CMS consultants!"

Stephen M. Glazier, FACHE
Chief Operating Officer
University of Texas Health Science Center
19 Years of Service
CMS VALIDATION SURVEY: 
NEW PROCESS BEING PILOTED
At the Consultants Forum meeting in Chicago, Joint Commission COO Mark Pelletier announced an interesting new approach  TJC and CMS are piloting. It's a concurrent validation survey process. This means CMS surveyors conduct their CMS validation survey at the same time TJC surveyors conduct their triennial survey.

The purpose of the CMS validation survey is to confirm that the TJC survey accurately evaluates compliance with the CMS Conditions of Participation ...
Continue Reading > 
TJC SURVEY OUTCOMES:
2018 TRENDS
You just received the TJC survey report for your hospital. You have two Condition-Level Deficiencies, and you're getting a follow-up survey in 45 days. Of course, you'll develop your corrective action plans and implement the needed fixes. But your leadership is asking how your results compare with other hospitals. So, let's take a look at the data shared by TJC COO, Mark Pelletier, at our recent Consultants Forum meeting at Joint Commission headquarters ...
Continue Reading >
JOINT COMMISSION SURVEYS:
HIGH RISK AREAS
Did you know Dr. Mark Chassin, President and CEO of The Joint Commission, recently sent a letter to CEOs of accredited organizations about four areas surveyors will closely scrutinize during Joint Commission surveys? The June 19 letter identifies "four high-risk areas on which our surveyors will focus extra attention during your next survey." ...
Continue Reading > 
NEW CLIENTs
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome four new clients:
CenterPointe Hospital  in St. Louis, Missouri;  CenterPointe Hospital Columbia in Columbia, Missouri;  Fort Behavioral Health in Fort Worth, Texas; and S UN Behavioral Houston in Houston, Texas.  We are pleased to be working with these clients on accreditation preparation and continuous regulatory readiness.
Congratulations Corner
Congratulations to our client  University of Florida Health - Florida Recovery Center  in Gainesville, Florida, who recently achieved initial Joint Commission accreditation. UF Health Florida Recovery Center  provides detox, rehab, and PHP/IOP services. Congratulations to the Florida Recovery Center team on achieving the gold standard of TJC 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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