Unannounced Reviews for Disease-Specific Care Programs Organizations not affiliated with the Joint Commission produce products and sponsor education programs related to Joint Commission accreditation. At times, the information provided in these products and programs is confusing, misleading, or inaccurate. The Fact on Fiction column identifies this misinformation with the intent of preventing confusion and correcting misperceptions in the field. This column is included in Perspectives on an “as needed” basis, whenever misleading or inaccurate information on Joint Commission initiatives is published. Questions about Joint Commission initiatives can be directed to perspectives@jcaho.org.
The front-page article of the March 27, 2006, edition of Inside the Joint Commission, published by Decision Health, reports that unannounced reviews for disease-specific care programs will occur 12 months after certification, up to 45 days before or after the due date. This is incorrect.
The Joint Commission’s recertification reviews are unannounced within a 90-day window, and then occur two years after the previous visit, not one year, as indicated in the aforementioned article.
For more information, please contact Jean Range, executive director of the Disease-Specific Care Certification program, at jrange@jcaho.org.