Joint Commission Changes Preliminary Denial of Accreditation Rules

In order to assure The Joint Commission that appropriate processes or policies are in place for obtaining this license or permit (and thus it will be renewed in the future in a timely manner), the RFI will remain in the survey report.

Additionally, the accreditation organization has completely eliminated rule PDA07, which was invoked after a healthcare organization received a Preliminary Denial decision on two consecutive full surveys.

Performance measurement update

In other Joint Commission news, the organization will introduce a new set of Perinatal Care core measures on April 1, 2010. This new set will be in addition to existing measure sets hospitals can use to fulfill ORYX reporting requirements.

The new Perinatal Care set replaces "Pregnancy and Related Conditions," which will be retired March 1, 2010. The measure set will include the following:

• Elective deliveries


• Cesarean sections


• Antenatal steroids


• Healthcare associated bloodstream infections in newborns


• Exclusive breast milk feeding

As before, the choice of measure sets is up to the hospital, depending upon appropriate services provided as well as patient population data.