Is the requirement for the Joint Commission to accredit hospitals in accordance with their CCN a new requirement from CMS?
In July 2008, a new law was passed which required Joint Commission to apply for continued deeming authority. This continued deeming authority was awarded, and published in the Federal Register on November 29, 2009. As part of this award, effective July 15, 2010, Joint Commission will be required to accredit hospitals in accordance with their CCN. • Why is CMS requiring Joint Commission to accredit hospitals in accordance with their CCN? The CMS identifies the boundaries of a hospital in terms of what locations it has identified on its Form CMS 855A application (including all subsequent 855As submitted with location updates); all of these locations are covered under the same CCN associated with this application. Therefore, the compliance of a hospital, as measured by an accreditation award, must be assessed in accordance with the CCN. When there is not a one-to-one match between an accreditation award and a CCN, noncompliance with the CoPs is likely. For example, when a hospital partici
