CMS Recognizes The Joint Commission's Home Health Accreditation, USA

Main Category: Caregivers / Homecare
Also Included In: Public Health;  Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 17 Apr 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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The Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has again granted The Joint Commission deeming authority for home health organizations.

The CMS designation means that home health agencies accredited by The Joint Commission will be "deemed" as meeting Medicare and Medicaid certification requirements. Home health agencies choosing this option achieve "deemed status" by virtue of their successful achievement of Joint Commission accreditation. CMS found that The Joint Commission's standards for home health meet or exceed those established by the Medicare and Medicaid programs. More than 2.4 million elderly and disabled people with Medicare receive care from home health agencies throughout the United States each year, according to CMS.

"The Joint Commission is pleased to once again receive this recognition of its accreditation of home health agencies," says Debra Zak, Ph.D., R.N., executive director, Home Care Accreditation Program, The Joint Commission. "This public-private collaboration between CMS and The Joint Commission provides quality oversight for home health agencies, which are increasingly important as patients receive care outside of the traditional hospital setting and in their homes."

The federal government's Final Notice granting the six-year deeming authority to The Joint Commission for its accredited home health agencies was published in the Federal Register on March 28. The Joint Commission has been granted deeming authority for home health organizations since 1993.

Accreditation is voluntary and seeking deemed status through accreditation is an option for home health agencies, not a requirement. Organizations seeking Medicare approval may choose to be surveyed either by an accrediting body, such as The Joint Commission, or by state surveyors on behalf of CMS. All deemed status surveys are unannounced.

Established in 1988, The Joint Commission Home Care Accreditation Program accredits more than 3,800 organizations that offer a variety of services in the patient's or client's home. More information about the Home Care Accreditation Program is available on The Joint Commission website at http://www.jointcommission.org.

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 8,000 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,300 other health care organizations that provide long term care, assisted living, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services. The Joint Commission also accredits health plans, integrated delivery networks, and other managed care entities. In addition, The Joint Commission provides certification of disease-specific care programs, primary stroke centers, and health care staffing services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.

The Joint Commission