TJC and CMS News for the Behavioral Healthcare Industry
September 2019
In This Issue:

Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
Now that summer is ending, most organizations are returning to their routine flow of business, including regulatory readiness efforts. To support that, we're bringing you updates on two topics of interest for TJC readiness.
 
Our first article provides clarifications on the new requirements effective July 1st for the National Patient Safety Goal on Suicide Risk Reduction. Our second article continues our series on Survey Management Strategies with coverage of the TJC Competence Assessment Session that takes places during surveys.
 
We look forward to seeing many of you at the annual TJC Behavioral Health Care Conference  on October 23 and 24 in Rosemont, Illinois. Please let us know if you will be attending and we will be sure to connect and catch up!
 
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! And feel free to to your colleagues.

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

Anne Barrins
President/CEO
Expecting Your TJC Survey Next Year?

Put our 20 year track record to work for you. Contact us now to schedule your  mock survey. It's your best possible preparation for the real thing!  
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1-877-546-7206
Tip of the Month
The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) recently released a very informative report The High Cost of Compliance: Assessing the Regulatory Burden on Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities.  It examines the burdens certain CMS regulations impose on the nation's inpatient psychiatric facilities.

It's a must-read for all Behavioral Health leaders. 
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?
"We just completed our triennial TJC survey for deemed status. Barrins & Associates did our mock survey and provided a clear roadmap for what we needed to address. We had an excellent survey outcome with no findings in the High Risk category on the SAFER matrix. Their consultation was instrumental to our survey success!"
 
Lisa St. Aubyn, MSW
CEO
Kansas City, Missouri

NPSG.15.01.01 Suicide Risk Reduction:
Get Clear on New Requirements
It's official! The new requirements for TJC's National Patient Safety Goal NPSG.15.01.01 on Suicide Risk Reduction became effective July 1st.  Predictably, surveyors are focusing intensely on these new requirements. We've seen survey reports that cite all seven elements of performance.
 
We recently discussed the new requirements firsthand with TJC leadership at the Consultants Forum meeting at TJC headquarters. We raised questions on a few areas where our clients are seeking clarification. We've captured the key points below and some insights on these new requirements ...
Continue Reading > 
TJC Competence Assessment Session:
Survey Management Strategies

Fourth in our series on TJC Survey Management Strategies

It's Day 3 of your TJC survey. Time for the TJC Competence Assessment Session. Surveyors have given you a list of staff names. Now they'll review your Human Resource and Staff Training files for those individuals.  We've seen this session go smoothly. And we've seen it descend into chaos. The result can be several findings on your survey report in the Human Resources chapter.
 
So, what are the current high focus areas? And the common compliance challenges? Let's review those and help you get prepared for this session ...

Continue Reading >      
New Clients
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome five new clients:
Epworth Children and Family Services  in St. Louis, Missouri; Sanford Health in Fargo, North Dakota; Sequel Pomegranate Health Systems in Columbus, Ohio; The Brook Hospital - Dupont in Louisville, Kentucky; and  Rogers Behavioral Health headquartered in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  We're pleased to be working with these organizations on 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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