Physician Leader Monthly January 2023

From the desk of Ana Pujols McKee, MD, FACP

By the time you read this, you have received “Happy New Year” cheers too numerous to count (TNTC). If you are familiar with the acronym “TNTC,” you too were most likely entering the medical profession at a time when a diagnosis of pyelonephritis required a microscopic urine evaluation to look for white cells. When the count was high, rather than counting the number of cells, we relied on this acronym. 

Now that I have dated myself with this nostalgic recollection, the point to be made is that time is passing quickly, and 2023 will also move quickly despite the many patient safety and quality challenges we face. We are beginning 2023 with a diminished workforce, a lingering COVID epidemic superimposed with emerging infectious threats, growing healthcare disparities, daily reminders of the impact of a destabilized climate, and, of course, a list of long-standing challenges of known preventable harms that were the center of our attention back in 2020.

There has never been a more important call for action and need for extraordinary physician leadership. Physician leaders will be critical in helping their organizations navigate during these difficult times. Now more than ever physician leaders must master the art of collaboration and rely on their critical thinking and analytic skills. 

No doubt the list of needed skills and attributes is extensive, but it would be superficial if I did not stress an essential attribute which is rarely mentioned – courage. For this reason, in addition to wishing everyone the best for the coming year, I wish all of us the courage to move forward for a productive, successful and safer 2023.

Ana Pujols McKee, MD, FACP
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer,
  and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer

In this issue:

• Joint Commission Journal: A study in the January issue evaluated the feasibility and fidelity of implementing the Co-Worker Observation System (CORS), a tool and process to address disrespectful behavior through feedback from trained peer messengers, for staff nurses.

Joint Commission announces major standards reduction, freezes hospital accreditation fees to provide relief to healthcare organizations

The Joint Commission is eliminating 168 standards (14%) and revising 14 other standards across its accreditation programs to streamline requirements and make them as efficient and impactful on patient safety, quality and equity as possible. Additionally, The Joint Commission is not raising its accreditation fees for domestic hospitals in 2023 in recognition of the many financial challenges hospitals and health systems continue to face.

Read more >>

In other news
Joint Commission eliminates licensed independent practitioner term
 
Clarification on new standard addressing healthcare equity

OSHA names Joint Commission, JCR as Alliance Program ambassador

COP27: Joint Commission recognized for joining White House pledge to decarbonize healthcare sector

Northside Hospital first in country to receive Maternal Levels of Care Verification

Blogs for docs 

Mitigating Biases During Patient Safety Investigations: Commentary in a recent issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, “How to Mitigate the Effects of Cognitive Biases During Patient Safety Incident Investigations,” explores how biases often exist during adverse event investigations in healthcare.

Read more >>

In the media

Data and Healthcare Transformation: Accelerating Towards Better Health | MDClone

What You Need to Know About The Joint Commission’s Updates | Health Facilities Management

Tracer Methodology: An Important Infection Control Tool for Identifying Risk | Healthcare Hygiene Magazine