Content Description
Are you a facility manager or emergency management coordinator who only needs Joint Commission standards that apply to the physical environment or emergency planning—not the whole manual? Or, do you work in a health care system or as a vendor and need to accurately align compliance efforts across hospital, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient behavioral clinics, or other settings of care?
Make standards compliance and preparing for survey easier with 2021 Environment of Care® Essentials for Health Care. This indispensable spiral-bound or PDF volume bundles the environment of care (EC), emergency management (EM), and life safety (LS) standards and elements of performance (EPs) for all settings in one convenient reference so the information you need is always right at your fingertips. Equipment management (EQ) standards, which appear only in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Home Care, are also included.
A recently redesigned matrix will help you streamline compliance efforts in your facility and your health care system, allowing you to quickly cross-reference EC, EM, and LS requirements across settings. You can see similarities and differences at a glance. A simple matrix included at each requirement clearly identifies (with an “x”) whether the requirement applies in each of the eight Joint Commission accreditation programs. Bracketed wording indicates how and where wording varies slightly across programs. Conversely, if standards, EPs, or notes vary greatly, abbreviations appear in brackets after that text noting it applies only to the programs listed, for example, ambulatory care (AHC), critical access hospitals (CAH), and hospitals (HAP).
Key Topics
Essential information for complying with EC requirements with regard to safety, security, hazardous materials and waste, medical equipment and utility systems, and fire safety
Complete Emergency Operations Plan/Emergency Management Plan requirements
Unabridged LS management requirements aligned with the 2012 Life Safety Code®*
Key Features
All EC, EM, and LS standards and EPs effective January 1, 2021
Streamlined grid that compares standards across the continuum of care to promote continuous accreditation readiness for all organizations, including those listed under "Settings" below
Glossary terms with clear, straightforward definitions
Standards: EC, EM, and LS (across all settings) and EQ (home care only)
Settings: All Joint Commission accreditation programs, including ambulatory health care, behavioral health care and human services, critical access hospitals, home care, hospitals, laboratory services, nursing care centers, and office-based surgery centers
Key Audience
Facility managers
Emergency managers
Life safety experts
Staff engineers
Accreditation and regulatory staff
Risk managers
Health care facilities consultants and vendors
About Joint Commission
The mission of The Joint Commission is to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. Its vision is that all people always experience the safest, highest quality, best-value health care across all settings.