Navigating the Standards Web

The Standards Development and Research web is intended to give health care professionals an opportunity to explore and discuss important health care issues. As these issues become better defined, users will be invited to help The Joint Commission develop new standards and performance requirements that simultaneously meet the needs of The Joint Commission and the needs of the community of accredited organizations. The site is designed to produce a constructive dialogue -- one capable of leading to new standards that can be implemented within future accreditation manuals. The information provided will help users become more familiar with the structure of the site and how to participate most productively.

When you enter the home page to the Standards Development and Research Web, you will see a brief introductory paragraph about the Standards web followed by a list of current issues. The issues are usually broad and can sometimes cover a wide-range of topics. Click on an issue to get more information.

Depending upon the nature of the issue, you will be directed to one of several pages.

• If the issue is narrowly defined and only applies to a single Joint Commission program (hospitals, behavioral health care, ambulatory health care, etc.), you will be immediately directed to the specific program page for that issue.
• If the issue is narrow, but could apply to multiple accreditation programs, you will be directed to a summary of that issue. At that point, you will be asked to select an accreditation program before continuing. You will find a drop-down menu containing any number of programs for which the issue is potentially applicable. Choose the program that is most relevant to your interests or field of expertise, and you will be taken to the program specific page for that issue.
• If the issue is broad, and applies to multiple accreditation programs, you will be asked to select a more narrowly defined sub-issue from a list. At that point, you will be re-directed to the sub-issue and asked to select an accreditation program before continuing. You will find a drop-down menu containing any number of programs for which the issue is potentially applicable. Choose the program that is most relevant to your interests or field of expertise, and you will be taken to the program specific page for that issue.

Once you have arrived at the specific program page for an issue you may see any number of the following sections:

Description of the Issue

Each topic begins with a basic description of the issue. In some cases, you may be invited to help define the issue. If the issue has not yet been adequately defined, you may not be able to see other sections of the page. The sections will be activated once the issue is ready to move on to the next step (i.e., building standards, performance requirements or patient safety goals).

Related Resources

Related Resources gives you the user an opportunity to upload anything pertaining to this issue. This could include print articles, abstracts, hyperlinks to a helpful website, or other material that can support the issue or the need for a particular standard. You may also post forms or other material used within your organizations that you feel would be helpful for other users to see. Please adhere to appropriate copyright restrictions when makeing decsions to post material.

Draft Standards

Draft Standards may be best defined as goals that are associated with high quality care. Each standard includes one or more underlying objectives called performance requirements. In this section, you will be able to edit existing standards and their associated performance requirements (e.g., rewording for greater clarity) and/or create new standards and performance requirements from scratch.

Draft Performance Requirements

Draft Performance Requirements are objective and measurable descriptions of an action, outcome, or observable behavior. These requirements are used to determine an organization's compliance with a standard. Each standard is made up of one or several performance requirements. In this section, you will be able to edit existing performance requirements (e.g., rewording for greater clarity) and/or create new performance requirements from scratch.

Expert Panel Nominations

The Expert Panel Nomination feature gives you the ability to nominate people you feel would be helpful to contact for more information. Only you (and Joint Commission staff) will be able to see individuals that you have nominated. The information on this page will not be shared with other users, but rather used by The Joint Commission to identify experts within a field.