The revisions include updated document review requirements, new construction and hyperbaric survey tools, and changes to building tour guidance.
Joint Commission has posted revised survey process guides, survey activity guides, and review process guides for its accreditation, certification, and verification programs, with the updates taking effect Sept 1, 2026.
Among the most notable changes, the hospital and critical access hospital survey process guides were each divided into two separate documents—an survey process guide and a survey tools guide. The restructured hospital survey process guide now includes an updated Document List and the addition of a Discharge Planning evaluation model.
New Survey Tools Guide for Hospitals
The newly created survey tools guide. consolidates several survey resources, including:
- A new construction survey tool
- A new hyperbaric tour tool
- A revised kitchen tracer survey guide with updated element of performance references
- An updated document review tool
- An updated building tour guide tool
- An updated ambulatory and business occupancy building tour guide tool
Ambulatory, Laboratory, and Certification Program Changes
For ambulatory surgical centers pursuing deemed status surveys, the ambulatory survey activity guide added conditions for coverage §416.42 for surgical services under individual tracer activity.
The laboratory survey activity guide includes a change in survey scope, noting that manufacturers’ recommendations and suggestions are no longer surveyed as requirements.
Joint Commission also revised the review process guides for its comprehensive cardiac center, disease-specific care, Excellent Health Outcomes for All, health care staffing services, palliative care, and perinatal care certification programs to reflect a change for opting in or out of the intracycle call.
A complete summary of changes is available at the beginning of each survey process guide, survey activity guide, and review process guide on Joint Commission’s website.
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