The Agenda for Change: performance focus alters JCAHO's survey process.

Starting this year, the new performance improvement (PI) standards set by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations take effect. Under PI.l, officials at all accredited health facilities are required to institute a "planned, systematic, organizationwide approach to designing, measuring, assessing and improving its performance." This shift to a performance focus is a cornerstone of the JCAHO's Agenda for Change, a 7-year-old initiative that is rapidly transforming the accreditation process for health care institutions. But what the this PI focus mean to health facility managers like you? And how will the Joint Commissions's new performance improvement focus affect your health care institution's chances of passing its next accreditation survey with flying colors? To find out, we asked experts in the field. We printed some of their answers in last month's issue; the rest appear here.