In its ongoing quest to align its standards to those of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), The Joint Commission today issued another revision of its rules for preventive maintenance. The rules were previously revised at least once earlier this year.

In the latest revision, which is effective today, July 2, 2014, several of the elements of performance (EP) for equipment and utility maintenance requirements now distinguish between requirements for those hospitals being surveyed for “deemed status” purposes and those that are not. Deemed status indicates that a hospital has been certified to “to participate in and receive payment from the Medicare or Medicaid program.”

For instance, in Standard EC.02.04.03 (“The hospital inspects, tests, and maintains medical equipment”), the revised text now offers two separate paragraphs that distinguish between deemed and non-deemed applications.  The first paragraph states as follows (emphasis from the original): “For hospitals that do not use Joint Commission accreditation for deemed status purposes: Before initial use of medical equipment on the medical equipment inventory, the hospital performs safety, operational, and functional checks.”

The following paragraph offers somewhat different guidance for deemed-status surveys: “For hospitals that use Joint Commission accreditation for deemed status purposes: Before initial use and after major repairs or upgrades of medical equipment on the medical equipment inventory, the hospital performs safety, operational, and functional checks.”

The full text of the prepublication requirements for “Standards Revisions and Clarifications Related to Medical Equipment and Utility System Maintenance” is available on the Joint Commission website (PDF).