A new report funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) says that U.S. hospitals are significantly better prepared for disasters and public health emergencies now than they were in 2001—and Joint Commission emergency management standards were cited as a catalyst for this improvement. While the study, “Hospitals Rising to the Challenge” The First Five Years of the U.S. Hospital Preparedness Program and Priorities Going Forward” focuses on the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) established by the DHHS in 2002, it cites increased emphasis placed by accrediting organizations as a significant driver of this improvement, in addition to events such as the 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina. Although much of the improvement that was found in the research was likely spurred by the perceived threat of terrorism, the authors also noted that The Joint Commission’s revised emergency preparedness standards in January 2001 required hospitals to being collaboratively planning with other health care organizations in the community.

How Accreditation Helps

The importance of Joint Commission accreditation is noted throughout the report, specifically identifying than an “impetus for increased hospital leadership engagement in preparedness efforts is the greater emphasis on emergency preparedness mandated by the Joint Commission.” By evaluating data from 2002-2007, the researchers found that the most useful indicators for measuring the preparedness of hospitals include the following:

• Ability to surge to accommodate additional patients during disasters (for example, targets for staff, supplies, and space)
• Training staff for disasters
• Performance during actual disasters and structured exercises

They recommended that measuring individual hospital preparedness should be based on Joint Commission standards for emergency management, which already significantly overlap with HPP guidelines.

Participants in the expert working group reported that Joint Commission emergency management standards were a good basis for developing individual hospital preparedness metrics and “serve to improve efficiency in individual reporting and to reduce reporting burdens on hospital disaster coordinators.” Hospitals have stockpiled emergency supplies and medicines, have improved communication systems, and conduct more frequent and higher quality disaster exercises. The report also highlights how hospital senior leaders actively support and participate in preparedness activities, and how hospital emergency operations plans are now more comprehensive and better coordinated with community emergency plans, in part because of Joint Commission accreditation.

Source: Perspectives June 2009, the official newsletter of The Joint Commission.