Joint Commission Behavioral Health Update
April 2018
In This Issue:

19 Years of Service
Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
This month marks the nine year anniversary of our newsletter! We find it to be a great vehicle for staying in touch with our clients and colleagues. It's gratifying when we get feedback that the newsletter is helpful to folks out there in the field. So, keep your questions and comments coming and we'll continue to bring you information and resources to support your regulatory readiness efforts. Also, remember that you can access previous editions of our newsletter via the Newsletter Archive on our website.
 
This month, we are sharing information about proposed changes to the National Patient Safety Goal on suicide risk assessment. This is an important topic for all of our clients and we encourage you to provide input to TJC on the proposed revisions. Our other feature this month is a report from one of our clients on how they have responded to the new 2018 BH requirements for outcomes measurement.

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.

Anne Barrins
President/CEO
Are You Ready for Your Next TJC Survey?
Suicide risk assessment, pain management, antimicrobial stewardship, ligature risks, B Tags ... These are just a few of the hot topics on the radar in 2018 surveys. Contact us now so we can help prepare you to meet these challenges on your next survey and minimize your risk of Condition level findings and follow-up surveys!
1-877-546-7206
Tip of the Month
Take note that the 2018 TJC Survey Activity Guide has a program-specific tracer on suicide prevention for both hospitals and BH organizations. The surveyors will evaluate your processes for suicide risk assessment, management of at-risk patients, and staff training on suicide prevention. Be sure to review the SAG on your Joint Commission Connect site so you're ready for this tracer!
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?
"Our Barrins & Associates consultant did an excellent job of quickly building rapport with the hospital team while also being very direct in communicating his findings and areas where we need to improve. He provided suggestions and resources that were extremely helpful. The bottom line is that we needed help quickly with a CMS compliance consultation and Barrins & Associates came through for us!"

Christine Newman, MHA
Senior Administrator
Wyoming Department of Health
Behavioral Health Division
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Proposed Revisions to National Patient Safety Goal on Suicide Risk Assessment
TJC has proposed revisions to the current National Patient Safety Goal on suicide risk assessment (NPSG.15.01.01) for both the Hospital and Behavioral Health Care Accreditation Programs. The proposed revisions are available for comment until May 7, 2018, and we have provided a summary on these changes.
Continue Reading >
how one organization is Meeting the New Outcomes Measurement Requirements
Many organizations and programs accredited under TJC's Behavioral Healthcare standards are striving to implement the new outcomes measurement requirements effective January 2018.  Several readers have asked what instruments folks are using. So, we thought it would be helpful to share the experience of our long term client Four Winds Hospital in Saratoga Springs, New York. This freestanding psychiatric hospital utilizes the Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32) for both its adult inpatient units and its adult PHP/IOP programs. They had been using the BASIS-32 for many years for inpatients and then later expanded the tool to the PHP/IOP programs.
Continue Reading >
NEW CLIENTs
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome four new clients:  
Fieldview at Holland in Wichita, Kansas; MaineGeneral Health in Augusta, Maine; Newport News Behavioral Health Center in Newport News, Virginia and Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston, Wyoming.   We are pleased to be working with these clients on accreditation preparation and continuous regulatory readiness. 
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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