Joint Commission Behavioral Health Update
February 2017
In This Issue:

Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
As our travels take us across the country, we know that weather challenges have abounded. Please hang in there and let's hope for an early spring! Meanwhile, we are keeping you up to date on TJC initiatives to support your continuous readiness.  
 
In this month's newsletter, we provide information on some upcoming changes to the Behavioral Health standards that go into effect July 1, 2017. Take note and be prepared for the rollout of these new requirements. Our second feature Compliance Catch-up provides updates on how to comply with some commonly challenging survey issues. 

We value your feedback on the newsletter. Please send us your comments and tell us what topics you would like to see in future issues. We look forward to hearing from you! Also, feel free to to your colleagues.

Anne Barrins
President/CEO
Are you ready for the B Tag medical record review that's now part of TJC surveys for psychiatric hospitals?
Our customized medical record review tool covers all the TJC and CMS requirements. Contact us now to learn more about how to prepare for this critically important survey session.
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Tip of the Month
The 2017 TJC Survey Activity Guide has been updated again. The latest version was published on February 6th and includes corrections to the Life Safety and Environment of Care sections. So, be sure to use this most recent SAG for your survey preparation.
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?
" Engaging Barrins & Associates as our consultants was the best thing we did here at A Mission for Michael. Their expertise and guidance were invaluable. We went into our survey strong and achieved our TJC accreditation in record time! "

Lindsey M. Fisher
Chief Operating Officer
A Mission for Michael 
Mental Health and Addiction Treatment
San Clemente, California 
Revisions to BH Standards
Effective July 1, 2017
Be aware that there are some revisions coming to the Care, Treatment, and Services chapter of the Behavioral Health Care Manual effective July 1, 2017. One is a fairly substantive addition to treatment planning requirements and the other is a wording clarification regarding health screenings.
Continue Reading >
Compliance Catch-up
From time to time, we update our readers on standards compliance requirements related to commonly challenging issues we see coming up on surveys. So, take a look at the following updates related to vaccines, CLIA certificates, fire drills, continuing medical education and texting of orders, and make sure these don't become survey pitfalls for you.
Continue Reading >
NEW CLIENTS
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome two new clients:
TaraVista Behavioral Health Center in Devens, Massachusetts, and First Steps Recovery in Clovis, California.  We are pleased to be working with these organizations on regulatory and accreditation compliance. 
Congratulations corner!
Congratulations to our client A Mission for Michael in San Clemente, California, who recently achieved initial Joint Commission accreditation.
Barrins & Associates provides Joint Commission and CMS consulting services for the Behavioral Healthcare industry. Our clients include psychiatric hospitals and freestanding Behavioral Healthcare organizations. We specialize in providing Survey Preparation and Continuous Survey Readiness services for the Behavioral Healthcare industry. Barrins & Associates was founded by Anne Barrins who was a Joint Commission surveyor for 13 years.

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