Revised Standards Reflect Higher-Level Accountability in Emergency Management Oversight

The Joint Commission has revised several of the standards for its hospital and critical access hospital accreditation programs to address the level of leadership accountability required in emergency management oversight, states a June 26, 2013, Joint Commission Online article. Because research indicates that healthcare organizations plan and respond more effectively when accountability for hospitalwide emergency management is assigned to high-level leadership, the agency revised standards from the leadership (LD.04.01.05 and LD.04.04.01) and emergency management (EM.03.01.01 and EM.03.01.03) chapters to provide a clearer description of the leadership-level oversight that is needed. Among other requirements, the revised standards specify that organizations must identify a leader to oversee emergency management, consider input from staff at different levels when evaluating exercises and responses to events, and have senior leadership review the organization’s emergency management planning activities, performance in exercises, and responses to actual events to facilitate improved communication of problem areas and implementation of hospitalwide solutions.