Safety Issues Dominate Joint Commission List of Most-Cited Standards of 2015

The Joint Commission’s latest list of most-cited standards was dominated by safety issues. Following a multi-year trend, eight of the top 10 cited standards came from the Environment of Care, Life Safety or Infection Control chapters, with most of them merely swapping places within the top 10.

The standards are those most frequently found not compliant by surveyors. Percentages indicate the number of organizations that were given Requirements for Improvement for the standards.

The top 10 most-cited standards of 2015 are as follows, based on 1,447 hospital surveys:

  • EC.02.06.01 (maintenance of a safe environment), 62%
  • IC.02.02.01 (reduction of infection risk from equipment, devices, and supplies), 59%
  • EC.02.05.01 (management of utility system risks), 58%
  • LS.02.01.20 (maintenance of egress integrity), 51%
  • LS.02.01.30 (building features provided and maintained to protect from fire and smoke hazards), 50%
  • RC.01.01.01 (maintenance of accurate, complete medical records for all patients), 47%
  • LS.02.01.35 (fire extinguishment features provided and maintained), 46%
  • LS.02.01.10 (minimization of fire, smoke, and heat damage via building and fire protection features), 45%
  • PC.02.01.03 (lawful provision of care, services, and treatment), 40%
  • EC.02.02.01 (management of hazardous materials and waste risks), 39%

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