The Joint Commission is launching a new accreditation program to standardize patient care practices and staff training at rural health clinics nationwide.
The Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program, which will open to applicants sometime this summer, is intended to help clinics in medically underserved, rural communities improve the safety and quality of primary care and personal health services, The Joint Commission announced Tuesday.
Related: Joint Commission launches telehealth accreditation program
Effective June 3, 2024, through June 3, 2028, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved The Joint Commission to serve as an accrediting body for rural health clinics that request participation in the Medicare program.
With accreditation deeming authority from CMS, The Joint Commission will be able to better support the 15% of Americans receiving care in rural areas, said Kathryn Petrovic, the organization's vice president for accreditation and certification product development.
“We're constantly looking at the programs that we accredit and the healthcare delivery system landscape of our country to see [where] we have the opportunity to accredit in various settings throughout the healthcare continuum,” Petrovic said.
The new accreditation program includes standards for rural clinics to follow related to emergency preparedness, medical error reduction and health information and medication management.
In addition to meeting CMS’ conditions for certification, rural health clinics looking to receive accreditation from The Joint Commission must adhere to specific requirements such as implementing fire safety procedures, identifying performance improvement priorities and conducting staff competency assessments.
The rural health clinic accreditation will become the ninth accrediting program The Joint Commission offers, adding to its programs for ambulatory surgical centers, critical access hospitals and telehealth service providers, among others. The organization also offers numerous certification programs in areas like environmental sustainability, health equity and patient data protection. These voluntary certifications are not linked to Medicare participation and provide more rigorous guidelines than the standards mandated within accreditation programs.
CMS has already authorized two other organizations — The Compliance Team and QUAD A — to serve as accreditors for rural clinics. QUAD A and The Compliance Team, which were granted deeming authority in 2012 and 2014, respectively, have accredited thousands of rural clinics nationwide.
