April 2024 Newsletter

In the News This Month

Greetings Everyone,

Welcome Spring!

As we transition into the 2nd quarter of the year and a new season, healthcare accreditation and regulatory compliance will see many changes.

Our company is experiencing some changes as well. We are excited to share that SAYAS Alliance, parent company of Courtemanche & Associates, has expanded services to our client base with the acquisition of Medical Resource Network (MRN). MRN, established over 30 years ago, provides legal nurse consulting services designed to support healthcare organizations. These services include Medical Expert Peer Review, chronologies and analysis of medical records that outline in detail the care provided along with other services. Please reach out with any questions you may have and please visit the MRN's site to learn more.

In this month's edition, two areas of focus we would like to highlight are the re-writes to The Joint Commission chapters, Infection Control (IP) specific to Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals, and Emergency Management (EM) specific to Ambulatory Care, both being implemented this July.

The two articles written by Chris Pratt, Senior Consultant & Accredited Provider Program Director, takes an in-depth look at the revisions made to both these chapters, dissecting what these changes mean for organizations, while also directing readers to key resources to assist with reviewing policies and procedures to ensure they are compliant with the expected standards.

Thank you for taking the time to read our articles. We hope this information has been helpful in preparing you and your organization for the new year. If you have any suggestions for future topics or require our services, please reach out to us at info@courtemanche-assocs.com. Our team is always available and eager to assist you in any way we can.

Infection Control

Mar 27 2024

Are You Ready for The Joint Commission’s NEW Infection Control Chapter?
Coming this July 2024, the standards from the newly re-written Joint Commission Infection Control (IC) Chapter for both Hospital and Critical Access Hospitals will be in effect.  This total revamp of the IC chapter is part of The Joint Commission's plan to reduce duplicative and non-value-added standards to better ...
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About the Authors

Christopher Pratt, MS, BSN, HACP

Chris Pratt is a Senior Consultant with Courtemanche and Associates with more than 33 years in clinical and leadership experience working in varying healthcare positions from the bedside to the Boardroom. In this role, he is responsible for assessing healthcare organizations’ readiness for licensing, accreditation, and regulatory compliance. He is trained in the survey process, auditing approach and survey outcome determination utilized by The Joint Commission, DNV, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and other regulatory agencies and accrediting organizations. He assists organizations with post-survey activities, education, patient safety strategies, and quality improvement initiatives and has experience in various health care settings including acute care, behavioral health, and ambulatory care settings.

Courtemanche & Associates Healthcare Consultant Chris Pratt
Emergency Management

Mar 27 2024

Emergency Management Chapter for Ambulatory Care Re-write
The Joint Commission has rewritten the Emergency Management (EM) Chapter for Ambulatory Care as part of its burden reduction and streamlining standards initiative. This new chapter will go into effect July 1, 2024. This revision resulted in reorganizing requirements,  renumbering standards, deleting repetitious requirements for office-based surgical practices, and ...
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About the Authors

Christopher Pratt, MS, BSN, HACP

Chris Pratt is a Senior Consultant with Courtemanche and Associates with more than 33 years in clinical and leadership experience working in varying healthcare positions from the bedside to the Boardroom. In this role, he is responsible for assessing healthcare organizations’ readiness for licensing, accreditation, and regulatory compliance. He is trained in the survey process, auditing approach and survey outcome determination utilized by The Joint Commission, DNV, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and other regulatory agencies and accrediting organizations. He assists organizations with post-survey activities, education, patient safety strategies, and quality improvement initiatives and has experience in various health care settings including acute care, behavioral health, and ambulatory care settings.

Courtemanche & Associates Healthcare Consultant Chris Pratt

Disclaimer: The information on this website is published in good faith for general information purposes only. This website does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information.

The Joint Commission® is a registered trademark of Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Courtemanche & Associates has no affiliation with this entity.

Courtemanche & Associates | (704)-573-4535 | Email: info@courtemanche-assocs.com

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