Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.
IU Health Arnett Hospital underwent a rigorous, unannounced onsite review the week of November 11, 2019. During the visit, a team of Joint Commission reviewers evaluated compliance with hospital standards spanning several areas including emergency management, environment of care, infection prevention and control, leadership, medication management, national patient safety goals and rights and responsibilities of the individual.
The Joint Commission’s standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. They are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help health care organizations measure, assess and improve performance. The surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.
“As a private accreditor, The Joint Commission surveys healthcare organizations to protect the public by identifying deficiencies in care and working with those organizations to correct them as quickly and sustainably as possible,” says Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, chief operating officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commission. “We commend IU Health Arnett Hospital for its continuous quality improvement efforts in patient safety and quality of care.”
“We are proud to achieve this prestigious accreditation. Our staff has worked tirelessly to achieve the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission and it reflects our dedication to excellent patient care and services,” said Dan Neufelder, president of IU Health Arnett. “In awarding us The Gold Seal of Approval, The Joint Commission has provided us with the opportunity to celebrate the exceptional care we provide to our patients and our commitment to the well-being of our community.”
The hospital prepared by meeting every two weeks to assess compliance with the The Joint Commission standards using the AMP tool and developing tracers for any areas found to have gaps. Focus was placed on the hot topic areas of dialysis, sterile compounding, suicide ideation and instrument pre-cleaning. Developing a multidisciplinary team to focus on gaps in all areas of non-compliance and align processes with best practices allowed to ensure delivery of safe quality care to our patients. The team will continue to build upon the readiness foundation created by continually assessing processes for any gaps and monitoring improvements made for sustainment.