Did You Know? | January 2022 | ACHC Updating Hospital Standards

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ACHC Updating Hospital Standards

Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) Standards are being updated for Acute Care Hospital Accreditation in 2022. In addition to regular program updates, revisions will also incorporate new COVID-19 vaccination requirements mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

CMS Vaccination Mandate

A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 13, 2022, lifted injunctions that had blocked enforcement of the mandate in 24 states. The decision expands enforcement nationwide for certain healthcare workers at most organizations that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs.

In accordance with updated guidance from CMS, ACHC will begin surveying against CMS vaccination requirements on the following dates:

January 27, 2022, for affected organizations subject to the mandate in states not covered by the previous injunctions.
February 14, 2022, for affected organizations in states that had contested the mandate, with the exception of Texas.
February 22, 2022, for affected organizations in Texas.

ACHC is adding a new acute care hospital standard to align with CMS COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Click below for details. CMS approval is pending.

LEARN MORE

Additional Standards Updates

For ACHC Acute Care Hospital Standards updates not related to the mandate, the anticipated effective date is June 1, 2022. A prepublication link to a detailed crosswalk of changes will be emailed to you. All proposed changes to ACHC Standards must be approved by CMS.

See below for a list of chapters that will include non-mandated changes:

Chapter 1: Administration of the Organizational Environment
Chapter 4: Human Resources Management
Chapter 7: Infection Prevention & Antibiotic Stewardship Program
Chapter 8: Materials Management
Chapter 9: Emergency Management
Chapter 11: Physical Environment
Chapter 12: Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement
Chapter 13: Life Safety
Chapter 15: Patient Rights
Chapter 16: Nursing Services
Chapter 24: Nutritional Services
Chapter 30: Surgical Services

Here to Help

If you have questions or need more information, please contact your Account Advisor, email customerservice@achc.org, or call (855) 937-2242.

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Some content presented in “Did You Know?” may consist of timely or topical articles deemed to be of interest to the provider community. These are presented for informational purposes as a service to our readers. The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the authors are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of ACHC, its related entities, or any employee thereof.