Wednesday, August 20, 2014

What Is JCAHO?

If you work in healthcare you know what those letters mean.  JCAHO....Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.  It used to go by the letters..JCAH....Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals.  I guess with all the urgent care places and surgical centers and other outpatient facilities they needed to change the name.  What it means doesn't describe what it does.  It strikes fear in the hearts of all who want/need those letters behind their names of their facilities!  You don't want to go to a hospital that hasn't been approved by this organization.  It's really not mandatory for this inspection process, but it should give you peace of mind to know that your facility is a quality one.  The standards are high and some....us....would say they are very anal picky. I found out a few years ago that the headquarters for JCAH was located non other than my hometown. They are right down the street from Mom's house. I made a visit there and blogged about it a few years ago. I had to keep my hands in my pockets so I wouldn't show them how I feel they are "No. 1"..(if you get my drift)
 They visit, unannounced, every 3 years.  We prepare all year for this visit.  We do have a little suspicion of when to expect them.  When they arrive the hospital operator announces very calmly over the PA system...."Samaritan Hospital would like to welcome the Joint Commission."  After all the big bosses change their underwear, they commence with the inspections of whatever the "Joint" wishes to inspect.  Yesterday it was the OR (operating room) department.  Here's an example of how we handle this:
Mary, our boss, was under the impression they were at another of our facilities. I had to inform her that they were actually in the hallway....I never saw her jump out of her chair so fast! (Did I mention underwear changing?) Others saw fit to try and hide:
Becky and Shay were on the lookout from the decontam room...Duck girls!
Look at my BFF Donna (Starkey Hollow)...she's so cool and calm because she has all her eye "stuff" neatly organized...she's says: "Bring 'em on!"  After they roamed all over the place with notebooks and mean faces, a meeting was held to go over the problems they thought they saw.  We were happy to see the final note on our department:
OR did great....yep, we were happy.  The main problems seem to be the Doctors not doing everything that's required in the paperwork part of their jobs...they better watch out because this could be their fate:
Dr. Martin is trying out his job skills in case he can't keep his Anesthesiologist position...um, excuse me Dr. M...I think you missed a spot..just sayin'.

13 comments:

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi, YaYa! How did you happen to get a picture of Liz Taylor posing next to The Joint Commission sign? :) The rest of the pictures are funny and remind me of a lost episode of Scrubs.

Since I have no personal experience with JCAHO, I went to Mrs. Shady and asked for her input. This is what she told me. "JAKE-oh" (as she pronounces it) "are people who make a lot of ridiculous rules that we are required to follow. None of them has ever worked at a bedside and they have no clue what is involved." She had a few more choice words but yours is a family blog so I will stop right there.

I congratulate you and your colleagues in the OR for getting good grades and I also want to give a shout to Donna of Starkey Hollow who was kind enough to start following my blog a while back.

I hope your week's going swell, dear friend YaYa, and I look forward to connecting with you again soon!

Donna said...

You are SO funny. Thanks for making me laugh once more....hahahahaha!

betty said...

My husband worked in hospitals for years as materials manager; he hated JCAHO time and getting ready for it. Glad the OR did great!

betty

Julia said...

Congratulations for scoring great in your department. Now you can relax a little bit... Always so nice seeing Donna smiling.

I'm glad that they don't come checking out my house. I'd surely wouldn't pass the grade.
Have a great week.
Hugs,
JB

Kim said...

Hmm those sneak inspections sound about as much fun as a rectal exam with a grappling hook! Lol

Rosaria Williams said...

Congratulations on that rating! And thanks for the information about this accrediting group; I had no idea.

Kay G. said...

HA! I think you should have the gift shop there start selling UNDERWEAR for the big bosses!
Of course, you got a GREAT rating!

selvageedge said...

It's good to hear that my closest hospital is passing inspection. And I think Kay has a great gift shop idea. My mom is a nurse and I can remember her great "love" of surprise inspections too. :)

Nonnie said...

Gee, this is the first time I've ever heard of this. I will have to go check out the hospital I recently spent time with.
Ewwwww, to what Kim above had to say. Yikes!

Willow said...

See that I learnt something new and serious and yet you had me interested and smiling all the while :)

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

lol This was cute. Reminded me of my years at General Hospital.
:)
Mona

Rick Watson said...

That's funny. The place where Jilda works does those inspections periodically and the people are always on pins and needles until it's over.
R

Susan Anderson said...

Love this. You guys seem to have an awful lot of fun over there.

=)