The Joint Commission announces standards reductions, revisions for 2023

Editor's Note

The Joint Commission announced on December 21 that they are eliminating 168 standards (14%) and revising 14 other standards across its accreditation programs in the new year. The Joint Commission additionally announced that it will not raise accreditation fees for domestic hospitals in the coming year due the many existing financial stressors on hospitals and healthcare systems.

"The standards reduction will help streamline Joint Commission requirements, as well as provide some much-needed relief to healthcare professionals and organizations as they continue to recover from the pandemic,” said president and chief executive officer of The Joint Commission. “Our goal is to eliminate any standard that no longer adds value. We want to have fewer, but more meaningful requirements that best support safer, higher-quality and more equitable health outcomes.”

The first set of standards eliminations and revisions, effective January 1, 2023, include:

• Hospital: 56 deleted and 4 revised
• Critical Access Hospital: 37 deleted and 4 revised
• Ambulatory Health Care: 20 deleted and 1 revised
• Behavioral Health Care and Human Services: 9 deleted and 1 revised
• Home Care: 10 deleted and 1 revised
• Laboratory Services: 6 deleted and 1 revised
• Nursing Care Center: 12 deleted and 1 revised
• Office-Based Surgery: 18 deleted and 1 revised

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the first set of standard deletions and revisions after confirming that they do not diminish regulatory CMS requirements. A second set of standards is under consideration for elimination or revision, which is anticipated to be announced later in the new year.  

For the full list of discontinued standards, please visit The Joint Commission website.

Read Accreditation updates from The Joint Commission, CMS reported by December 15 OR Manager.