Joint Commission Behavioral Health Update
October 2016
In This Issue:

Greetings to Our Colleagues in Behavioral Healthcare!
We hope that the fabulous colors of fall have reached your part of the country and you're enjoying the cooler weather!
 
We have two important updates for you this month. The first one includes information for psychiatric hospitals on the new antimicrobial stewardship standard that goes into effect January 2017. The second is important information for our BH clients on sober living homes and how TJC approaches these during surveys. 

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.

Best regards and enjoy the fall season in your part of the country!    

Anne Barrins
President/CEO
Preparing for Your 2017 TJC Survey?
Are you ready for the new standards that go into effect January 1st and the new SAFER matrix being used by surveyors? Contact us now to schedule a mock survey. It's the best preparation for what's to come in 2017!
1-877-546-7206
Tip of the Month
Psychiatric Hospitals:
Be aware that the Medical Record Delinquency Form (see standard RC.01.04.01) is no longer being used during surveys. However, closed records are still being reviewed with particular attention to discharge summaries, discharge instructions and education on discharge medications.
Why Choose
Barrins & Associates?


"Springstone operates a nationwide network of psychiatric hospitals and we are extremely pleased with Barrins & Associates. The team is razor sharp in identifying compliance issues and helping us solve them. We highly value our partnership with them!"

Tonya St. Clair, RN, MSN
VP of Operations/Nurse Executive
Springstone, Inc., Louisville, Ky.

Psychiatric Hospitals
Prepare for New Antimicrobial Stewardship Standard 
In July, 2016 TJC introduced its new standard on antimicrobial stewardship. The standard is contained in the Medication Management chapter (MM.09.01.01) of the Hospital manual and goes into effect January 1, 2017. Antibiotic consumption in psychiatric hospitals is low compared to general hospitals. However, antibiotics have several drug-drug interactions with psychotropic drugs that can lead to adverse events or treatment failure and significantly increase the cost of treatment. Thus, this new standard is relevant for any hospital whose patients are being prescribed antibiotics.
BH Organizations
Survey of Sober Living Houses
Many substance abuse programs across the country operate sober living houses as part of their continuum of care. Over the years, TJC has grappled with questions from the field on this topic and now they have come out with specific guidelines regarding sober living houses. We recently discussed these with Megan Marx Associate Director for Behavior Health Care Accreditation and she encouraged us to share these guidelines with our readers.
NEW CLIENTS
Barrins & Associates is pleased to welcome three new clients:
Enterhealth Ranch Addiction Treatment in Van Alstyne, TexasREBOS in Los Angeles, California; and Two Rivers Behavioral Health System in Kansas City, Missouri We are pleased to be working with these organizations on regulatory and accreditation compliance. 
Congratulations corner!
Congratulations to our client Surf City Recovery in Huntington Beach, California, who recently received 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.