Less is more: New Joint Commission Standards Review
The Joint Commission of the American Hospital Association is conducting a review of all outfits “above and beyond” requirements and all standards and elements of performance that aren’t directly tied to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or other regulatory requirements.
This review is specifically looking to answer the following questions:
Keeping the goal of eliminating any standards and elements of performance that no longer add value, the Commission wanted to have fewer, more meaningful requirements while also reducing the burden on already overburdened healthcare workers and institutions.
Reaching this goal, The Joint Commission has eliminated 56 standards from its Hospital Accreditation Program, citing a 14 percent reduction of standards within their scope.
The Joint Commission is investigating reducing its oversight to help hospitals cope with the threat of burnout.
Rising burnout among healthcare workers threatens patient care and the long-term solvency of many hospital systems.
Preceding the COVID-19 epidemic and its drastic effects on the nation, burnout has been an epidemic affecting the U.S. healthcare system that will require a new set of solutions to overcome.
Burnout, defined as “an occupational syndrome characterized by a high degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and a low sense of personal accomplishment at work”, is a syndrome that is raising red flags across the healthcare system.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Academy of Medicine found that burnout had reached “crisis levels” among the U.S. health workforce. (https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/health-worker-wellbeing-advisory.pdf)
According to their data, the following groups reported systems of burnout:
Burnout is being attributed to about one-third of US clinicians considering switching their professions and workplaces.
According to HealthLeaders, healthcare burnout rates have doubled as prior to the pandemic, the average was from 30 to 50 to reach approximately 70 percent.
When asked what factors contribute to burnout, 60 percent stated that too many bureaucratic tasks such as charting and paperwork were to blame.
Other contributions to burnout that can lead to adverse patient care and safety include:
Healthcare workers suffering from burnout have reported symptoms such as
These symptoms transfer to patients, community and society, and the healthcare system.
Patients suffer from less interaction time with healthcare workers, lower quality of and delays in receiving care and diagnoses, and medical errors.
Community and society suffer as burnout of healthcare workers leads to an
These impacts became more noticeable with the COVID-19 pandemic as the illness shined a light on and emphasized these dark effects and parts of the health system that need to be corrected.
The healthcare system suffers the most significant negative impact from burnout as it leads to:
With the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and The Association of American Medical Colleges projecting the need for 1.1 million new registered nurses and a shortage of between 54,100 and 139,000 physicians raises a major alarm in primary care all over the United States. (https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/health-worker-wellbeing-advisory.pdf)
Considering these increased needs, the costs of replacing staff increase as well as the annual burnout-related turnover costs are $9 billion for nurses and $2.6-6.3 billion for physicians. (https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/health-worker-wellbeing-advisory.pdf)
These extremely high costs surprisingly don't include turnover among other types of healthcare workers.
Recent reporting from Kaufman Hall found that more than half of hospitals were projected to have negative margins through 2022, with U.S. hospitals being stated to “likely face billions of dollars in losses in 2022.”
The Commission also decided not to raise its domestic hospital accreditation fees in 2023 to help with the financial challenges that many hospitals and health systems are facing.
This decision will help hospitals and healthcare-providing locations recover from the burdens and severe burnout symptoms that the COVID-19 pandemic left.
To diminish the ill effects of burnout from healthcare workers and systems away, rapid advancements in technology, specifically health information technology, are needed.
Key steps that healthcare technology companies can take to help address healthcare worker burnout are required immediately.
Designing technology to serve the needs of healthcare workers, care teams, and patients across the continuum of care which includes identifying, delivering, and evaluating experiences that meet all users’ needs, including health workers, multi-disciplinary teams, and patients.
Companies can also work with health workers to design and improve electronic health records that are easily accessible, understood, efficient, and doesn’t add to the burnout burden.
Solutions include systems such as Sonicu’s temperature and environmental monitoring platform that’s simple to use and decreases regulatory burdens by healthcare systems all over the U.S.
Additional considerations include:
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