In an increasingly complex healthcare landscape, hospital compliance has emerged as a critical, yet arduous task. Regulatory standards set by bodies such as The Joint Commission have become comprehensive and exacting, reflecting the importance of ensuring the highest quality of care and safety in healthcare facilities. Facilities compliance managers, engineering personnel, and clinical staff are constantly trying to stay ahead of these issues. Identification of compliance deficiencies, assigned corrective actions, and task completion is both overwhelming and complicated.
Reportedly, hospitals typically spend between $25,000 and $50,000 per year merely managing compliance, and the journey to continued efforts for accreditation can demand daily efforts and planning. Depending on the size and complexity of the hospital, weekly planning, survey preparation, and ongoing surveillance of compliance directives is required. The process of continuous readiness and compliance with standards is an ongoing effort that involves team member identification and understanding of issues.
This extensive process and significant investment underscore the vital importance of compliance in maintaining and elevating the standards of healthcare. The drive towards regulatory compliance has gained even more momentum in the post-COVID era. The pandemic underscored the importance of robust, well-regulated healthcare systems capable of responding effectively to global health crises. Post-COVID has seen a decrease in staff compliance with educational needs, environment of care standards, as well as other important regulatory compliance requirements.
As we navigate through the landscape of healthcare, one marked by a greater consciousness of emergency preparedness and response, the stringent adherence to regulatory standards is not just an operational necessity, but a key indicator of a hospital’s resilience and commitment to patient safety.
While hospitals continue to leverage technology for patient engagement and care delivery, it’s high time they turned to similar innovations to improve their own operations and navigate the intricacies of compliance. As the saying goes, “necessity is the mother of invention,” and the current scenario indeed necessitates a more streamlined approach to regulatory compliance. And the key to this could very well be the widespread adoption of mobile technology in healthcare.
Conventional Approach to Hospital Compliance
The process of achieving regulatory compliance in hospitals is like solving a complicated puzzle of protocols amidst a vast spectrum of standards. The Joint Commission, one of the most recognized accrediting bodies, subjects hospitals to an intense scrutiny of infrastructure, care delivery procedures, emergency preparedness, record-keeping, and a variety of other aspects. The preparation for these inspections requires significant document management and coordination of tasks across multiple departments.
Consider, for instance, the process of ensuring the maintenance and servicing of all medical equipment in compliance with regulatory requirements. This traditionally involves tracking maintenance schedules and corresponding documentation through methods such as spreadsheets or paper-based logs. While these methods may have served their purpose in the past, they are both time-consuming and prone to errors, which can be detrimental when striving for compliance. Any discrepancy in data entry, misplacement of records, or oversight can potentially lead to non-compliance during an audit, resulting in hefty fines or penalties.
The cycle to readiness has historically involved multiple hospital departments, surveys, and staff collaboration. The process starts with understanding, at the unit level, accreditation requirements such as, educational understanding, infection control concerns, fire safety code issues, response procedures, and clinical safety practices.
The Compliance Survey Lifecycle and App-Driven Assistance
[A Continuous Survey Readiness Model]
Identification and resolution of compliance issues has historically been managed by manual methods. These methods use pen/paper documentation processes requiring additional entry on spreadsheets, email chains, and follow-up records. A successful readiness model involves initial review and identification of issues, such as mock surveys, Life Safety Code reviews, and clinical surveys. The process must be detailed in order to identify compliance deficiencies.
Transformation to app-driven tools for continued survey readiness methods reduces manpower efforts significantly. Improved efficiencies, trackability, accountability, and compliance are only a few of the benefits of change to App-driven processes.
App-Driven Compliance Transformation
A mobile app-based approach, on the contrary, can dramatically streamline this process. All tasks related to maintenance, along with their associated documents, can be stored, managed, and updated in real-time within the app. Upcoming tasks can trigger automatic reminders, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. As tasks are completed, the evidence of compliance becomes instantly accessible, reducing the risk of errors and discrepancies that often occur with manual data handling.
In the build-up to a Joint Commission inspection, using apps such as PlanRadar for document management and ticket tracking can prove particularly beneficial. A list of preparatory tasks can be created within the app and assigned to various team members. The real-time tracking of each task’s status ensures nothing is overlooked, preparing the hospital thoroughly for the impending inspection. This, in turn, makes the compliance process organized, transparent, and far less arduous than traditional methods.
Interdepartmental Collaboration and Compliance Excellence
An app-based compliance approach can also facilitate enhanced communication and collaboration across different departments. Often, Joint Commission readiness requires the involvement and cooperation of various hospital units, from nursing, surgery, and pharmacy to facilities management and administration.
Historically, compliance staff would take photo of issues, insert in an email, and hope the issues was corrected. Follow-up tupically requires an additional unit survey or email.
An app can serve as a central hub for all involved parties, allowing them to update their progress, view others’ updates, and understand how their work fits into the bigger picture. For example, facilities management can use app-based programs to monitor and document safety practices like fire safety protocols, hazardous material handling, and the maintenance of medical gases and vacuum systems.
App-based program allow for continuous oversight and monitoring. With these programs, compliance and administrative support staff can oversee the entire process, identify bottlenecks, and ensure that all the pieces come together for a successful Joint Commission review.
Future-proof Hospital Compliance
By transforming an intricate, labor-intensive process into a streamlined and transparent one, mobile apps can significantly enhance the operational efficiency of hospitals. Tasks that were once laborious and prone to human error are now simplified and systematized, freeing up valuable time and resources that can be directed towards patient care and other core services.
Moreover, the adoption of an app-based approach can foster a culture of accountability and interdepartmental collaboration. Through real-time tracking and communication, every department can view their role in the larger compliance landscape, engendering a shared responsibility for achieving compliance objectives. This, in turn, helps build a robust culture of continuous improvement, where each department strives to perform at its best, contributing to the overall excellence of the hospital.
As we look to the future, hospitals face a dual challenge: maintaining the highest standards of patient care while evolving with the demands of a dynamic healthcare landscape. Incorporating mobile apps into compliance management is a potent way to future-proof hospitals against these challenges. Not only does this ensure adherence to current regulatory standards, but it also builds a foundation of adaptability and innovation that will equip hospitals to tackle future changes in regulations.
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For more information about incorporating mobile technology to future-proof hospital compliance, you can learn more here: info.planradar.com/oncore-planradar
Robert D. Booth, MPH, CIH
Senior Healthcare/Infection Control Consultant
Oncore, Inc.
