Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Joint Commission Updates Definition of "Physician"

The Joint Commission has made changes to the definition of "physician," which will apply to hospital programs starting July 1, 2009.

The change amends the definition in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals to reflect the definition of "physician" used by CMS. The new definition recognizes the following groups as "physicians," based on state licensure requirements:
  • Doctors of medicine and osteopathy
  • Doctors of dental surgery or dental medicine
  • Doctor of podiatric medicine
  • Doctors of optometry
  • Chiropractors

This change will affect several Elements of Performance. The latest revision of accreditation requirements have been updated to show when an EP applies to a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, or a physician under the CMS definition.

The change in definition has been made to comply with CMS requirements for deemed status.

More information on this change, including the new definition of "physician," can be found in the June 2009 issue of Perspectives.

For the revised accreditation requirements, click here:
http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/C9298DD0-6726-4105-A007-FE2C65F77075/0/CMS_New_Revised_HAP_FINAL_withScoring.pdf.

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