Changes Announced for the Survey/Review Notification Policy
Based on feedback received from accredited and certified organizations, The Joint Commission recently approved changes regarding how organizations are notified of upcoming Joint Commission survey/review events. Effective in March 2017, The Joint Commission will incorporate email notifications into its current process, notifying its accredited and certified organizations of survey/review activity as follows:
- Announced Events — Thirty days prior to the scheduled announced event, The Joint Commission will post on the organization’s secure Joint Commission Connect extranet site the letter of introduction, the survey/review agenda, and the biography and picture of each surveyor/reviewer assigned to conduct the event. Once this notification — which serves as the official notice of the upcoming event — has been posted, an email notification will be sent to the individuals listed as chief executive officer and primary accreditation/certification contact on the organization’s extranet. This email will advise that an event has been scheduled and instruct the contact(s) to log in to the Joint Commission Connect site to view the event details. The organization will also receive a separate email by 7:30 a.m. in the organization’s local time zone (for organizations within the United States and its territories) on the morning of the event with the same information listed above.
- Short-Notice Events — Seven business days prior to the scheduled event, The Joint Commission will post on the organization’s secure Joint Commission Connect site the letter of introduction, the survey/review agenda, and the biography and picture of each surveyor/reviewer assigned to conduct the event. Certification and Laboratory events will continue to have this information posted on the Joint Commission Connect site the day of survey. Once the notification — which serves as the official notice of the upcoming event — has been posted, an email notification will be sent to the individuals listed as chief executive officer and primary accreditation/certification contact on the organization’s extranet. This email will advise that an event has been scheduled and instruct the contact(s) to log in to their Joint Commission Connect site to view the event details. The organization will also receive a separate email by 7:30 a.m. in the organization’s local time zone (for organizations within the United States and its territories) on the morning of the event with the same information listed above. Organizations that are eligible for short notice will no longer receive a phone call from a Joint Commission representative notifying them that the event has been scheduled.
- Unannounced Events* — On the day of the unannounced survey/review, by 7:30 a.m. in the organization’s local time zone (for organizations within the United States and its territories), The Joint Commission will post on the organization’s secure Joint Commission Connect site the letter of introduction, the survey/review agenda, and the biography and picture of each surveyor/reviewer assigned to conduct the event. Once the notification — which serves as the official notice of the upcoming event — has been posted, an email notification will be sent to the individuals listed as chief executive officer, primary accreditation/certification contact, and corporate contact (if applicable) on the organization’s extranet. This email will advise that an event has been scheduled for that day and instruct the contact(s) to log in to their Joint Commission Connect site to view the event details.
For more information about when announced events, short-notice events, and unannounced events apply, please refer to “The Accreditation Process” (ACC) chapter or “The Joint Commission Certification Process” (CERT) chapter of your program manual. Questions may be directed to your organization’s assigned Account Executive.