Joint Commission visit Nov. 3-5 will focus on testing
A Joint Commission Point-of-Care Testing Survey will take place Nov. 3-5, according to Aaron Kocsis, R.N., regulatory coordinator with WVU Medicine’ s Center for Quality Outcomes.
Point-of-care testing occurs at the unit level by unit staff – providers, RNs, respiratory therapists, clinical associates and others – not laboratory staff.
Because of the volume of testing at Ruby Memorial Hospital and WVU Medicine clinics, the Joint Commission is announcing the survey instead of sending representatives unannounced.
The survey will not only take into account testing that occurs on campus but also will include the testing offered at the off-campus clinics. There will be one surveyor, most likely a medical technologist, Kocsis said.
Many of the Joint Commission standards are based on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) regulations.
Some of the focus items will be:
- policies and procedures associated with tests
- documentation and orders of tests
- use and documentation of controls to ensure accuracy of testing
- training/validation in practice (VIPs) of staff
- cleaning and maintenance of testing equipment
While the emphasis will be on the testing provided by the hospital, the survey process also takes into account other standards that focus on providing safe patient care. A survey checklist, created by WVU Medicine officials, can be used for employees to assess their overall readiness as many of these items are also evaluated during the survey.