JCI “Touchpoint” Has Begun

— Sustaining Quality and Patient Safety Throughout the Three-Year Accreditation Cycle —

This year, JCI (Joint Commission International) launched a new initiative called “Touchpoint.”

JCI hospital accreditation operates on a three-year survey cycle.

However, continuously maintaining compliance with JCI requirements and sustaining efforts related to patient safety and quality of care throughout the three years between the completion of one accreditation survey and the next is by no means easy.

In the past, once an accreditation survey was completed, hospitals had limited opportunities to interact directly with JCI Surveyors until the next survey.

Creating a Point of Contact with JCI During the Three-Year Accreditation Cycle

To address these challenges, Touchpoint was introduced with the aim, among others, of establishing a point of contact with JCI during the three-year accreditation cycle and supporting the continuous improvement of accredited hospitals by reviewing progress on improvement items identified during the previous survey and initiatives related to the SIP (Strategic Improvement Plan).

From the hospital’s perspective, however, preparation for Touchpoint is required (*), and this may create a certain degree of tension and additional workload for those responsible and other staff members.

*Touchpoint is not a “survey.”

Rather Than “Preparing for a Survey,” Focus on Continuous Improvement in Daily Practice

For this reason, we believe that what is important is not to “prepare for a survey,” but to build an organization that works continuously to improve patient safety and quality of care in its daily operations.

Rather than treating JCI requirements as special tasks, it is important to incorporate them into everyday clinical practice and hospital operations and establish systems that can be sustained reasonably, efficiently, and economically.

Using Touchpoint as an Opportunity for Continuous Improvement

Touchpoint should also be used not simply as “preparation for the next survey,” but as an opportunity for hospitals to review their patient safety and quality improvement initiatives and continue improving them.

Afya Management and Innovation provides support not only for JCI accreditation and reaccreditation surveys, but also for Touchpoint preparation, responses to findings from previous surveys, SIP implementation, and the development of systems that enable hospitals to maintain patient safety and quality of care in their daily operations.

“I would like to know what Touchpoint is like.”

“I want to be in a position where we do not have to panic when Touchpoint approaches.”

“Touchpoint is just around the corner—can we still get advice?”

If you have questions or concerns about preparing for Touchpoint, please feel free to contact Afya Management and Innovation.

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