The Joint Commission to add health equity standards to accreditations

August 12, 2022

KARA HARTNETT 

The Joint Commission has established new accreditation standards to accelerate equity efforts within healthcare organizations.

As of Jan. 1, accreditation programs for primary care clinics, behavioral health centers, critical access facilities and hospitals will include new mandates for their leaders.

The updated standards include designating an officer to lead a strategy for reducing health disparities and screening patients for social determinants of health.

The commission is also requiring accredited organizations to add demographic breakdowns to quality and safety data. The stratifications will assist organizations in identifying disparities in health outcomes, which the accreditation group will require them to use to develop an action plan to eliminate.

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