Posted On: April 25, 2024

What Is the TJC Standard?

In the healthcare industry, quality and safety standards play an important role in ensuring that patients receive the best possible care. One such standard that holds significant importance is the TJC Standard.

So, what exactly is the TJC standard in healthcare, where does it come from, and why does it exist? Does your facility really need to meet the Joint Commission quality standards? What’s the point of TJC accreditation?

Below, we’ll explore all of these questions and more.

Introduction to The Joint Commission (TJC)

The Joint Commission (TJC) is a non-profit organization that sets and issues healthcare accreditation standards in the U.S.

The organization has gone through several names in its history, but “The Joint Commission” has been a common thread. They began offering accreditation in 1951 and became an official part of the Medicare Conditions of Participation in 1965.

Today, they’re responsible for the accreditation of over 20,000 healthcare programs and organizations, including hospitals, home care services, nursing care centers, behavioral healthcare and addiction services, ambulatory care practices, and lab services.

The Purpose and Importance of TJC Standards

The Joint Commission quality standards provide healthcare organizations with an objective evaluation process for measuring, assessing, and improving their performance.

TJC’s standards focus largely on patient safety and harm prevention. The primary goal is to ensure a safe patient experience by avoiding medical errors and reducing variation in clinical processes.

For healthcare organizations, TJC accreditation has several benefits.

For many healthcare facilities, the primary motive is bureaucratic. It’s a key qualifying step for Medicare certification, allowing organizations to skip other, more redundant quality inspections. In some states, TJC accreditation is also a regulatory requirement. Accreditation is also becoming an important part of qualifying for insurance reimbursement or participation in managed care plans and contract bidding.

There are other benefits to complying with TJC’s healthcare accreditation standards. The Joint Commission quality standards help a facility organize and strengthen patient safety and quality of care efforts. Adherence to TJC healthcare standards also reduces the risk of error, which is critical to the financial well-being of a medical service. Most directly, these risk management efforts may reduce the cost of liability insurance. Organizations also get access to helpful resources, including education services and tools for measuring performance.

Accreditation Process and Compliance

The TJC accreditation process has two main components: an objective assessment of the facility’s performance against TJC standards and an unannounced survey that reviews the organization’s processes and functions.

The first step in TJC accreditation is to evaluate compliance with TJC standards by scoring a facility on specific performance elements.

The survey process involves a visit to evaluate an organization’s performance by tracing patient care, reviewing documentation, and observing and interviewing both staff and patients.

There are four potential outcomes for the TJC accreditation process. TJC either issues accreditation with full standards compliance, conditional accreditation, provisional accreditation, or preliminary denial of accreditation. In cases where an organization falls short of full accreditation, they’re given specific time frames for bringing problem areas into compliance.

A full survey is repeated every three years, but 5% of all organizations are selected for random, unannounced surveys each year.

Key Components of TJC Healthcare Quality Standards

TJC has over 250 active quality standards developed with input from healthcare professionals, subject matter experts, consumers, and government agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

TJC is continually evaluating and revising its requirements. Before a new standard is added, TJC considers whether:

It relates to patient safety or quality of care
Can have a positive impact on health outcomes
Meet or surpass existing laws and regulations
Can be accurately and readily measured

Get TJC Compliance Training Online

Staff training is a critical part of adherence to TJC healthcare standards. Not only do some standards explicitly require training, but understanding and being fresh on the particulars of The Joint Commission quality standards are key to individual compliance.

We offer online courses on TJC standards that are self-paced and available from any device whenever and wherever your staff has time to squeeze in a little study. It’s an efficient and cost-savvy way to meet TJC healthcare standards. Plus, we’re IACET-accredited, so these courses count toward employees’ CEUs!

Examples of TJC courses in our catalog include:

Hazard Communications in Healthcare, which covers both OSHA and TJC requirements for chemical hazard communication.
Abuse and Neglect in the Healthcare Setting, which covers TJC Provision of Care Standard “Victims of Abuse” to ensure staff understanding of the professional responsibility to report abuse.
Age-Appropriate Care Training, which focuses on age-specific competencies under TJC Provision of Care standards.
National Patient Safety Goals, which covers TJC’s NPSGs, as well as methods for reducing patient mixups, improving medication safety, and managing risk for healthcare-associated infections and surgical errors.
Advanced Healthcare Directive Training, which includes a section on relevant TJC regulatory requirements.
Patient and Family Education, which covers relevant TJC Provision of Care Standards as well as the Safe Care program.