Non-Compliance with Identifying Infection Risks Still an Issue in Ambulatory Care

The Joint Commission says that ambulatory care facilities are still struggling with certain requirements relating to infection prevention and control. The Joint Commission collects data on organizations compliance with standards, National Patient Safety Goals, the Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery, and Accreditation and Certification Participation Requirements to identify trends and focus education on challenging requirements.

In the Aug. 18 issue of Joint Commission Online, the top five Joint Commission requirements that were most frequently identified as "not compliant" for the first half of 2010 for accredited organizations and certified programs included:

IC.01.03.01: The organization identifies risks for acquiring and transmitting infections -- 23 percent non compliant

IC.02.02.01: The organization reduces the risk of infections associated with medical equipment, devices and supplies -- 22 non compliant