A Closer Look at Joint Commission Nursing Care Center Standards:
EC.02.04.01- The organization manages medical equipment risks.
EC.02.04.03- The organization inspects, tests, and maintains medical equipment.
Medical equipment is a critical component of the resident care system in the skilled nursing industry. Residents and staff utilize medical equipment daily. For this reason, it is essential that each organization identifies all components of medical equipment inventory and completes preventative maintenance and appropriate testing.
The Joint Commission standards require each skilled nursing organization to complete tests and inspections prior to the use of medical equipment on an ongoing basis. In order to ensure the equipment continues to be safe for residents and staff, it must be maintained, inspected, and tested. Organizations must follow the equipment manufacturers’ guidelines to obtain the frequencies for inspecting, testing, and maintaining each piece of medical equipment.
Skilled nursing organizations are at risk for receiving Joint Commission follow-up survey recommendations when they are not able to show evidence of a comprehensive medical equipment inventory list or when there is not sufficient documentation to support required tests, inspections, and maintenance of all medical equipment. It is also essential that your organization has a quality control system to verify documentation by implementing documentation audits for medical equipment being properly maintained by any outside sources. Testing, inspecting, and maintaining medical equipment in the skilled nursing industry is essential in ensuring resident and staff safety. The attention to detail given to the medical equipment management program is vital in assuring quality of care for all residents at the organization.
Reference: The Joint Commission E-dition (jcrinc.com)
Sarah Ocasek, MA is a Senior Consultant at Achieve Accreditation. Achieve Accreditation has helped skilled nursing providers and assisted living organizations to obtain and maintain their Joint Commission Accreditation for over 30 years.