Joint Commission reviewing CMS final rules on discharge planning, burden reduction

Editor's Note

The Joint Commission announced on October 9 that it is reviewing discharge planning and burden reduction changes announced in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rules published September 30.

Any changes to Joint Commission accreditation requirements for deemed programs will go through the CMS iterative review process.

The effective date for most changes is November 29, 2019, except for hospital and critical access hospital antibiotic stewardship programs, which must be implemented by March 30, 2020, and critical access hospital quality assessment and performance improvement programs, which must be implemented by March 30, 2021.