Q&A: Your survey team

Q: Can you tell me a little more about the surveyors? What should I expect? Who will be doing the survey?

A: Generally, The Joint Commission sends a team composed of a physician, a nurse, and an administrator to survey a hospital, and one of these three people acts as the survey team leader. Surveys last for two to five days, depending on the number of beds in your hospital and the scope of your patient care activities.

For a hospital with fewer than 50 beds, for example, The Joint Commission typically sends a physician and nurse surveyor for two days. A survey at a facility with 500-700 beds would likely involve four surveyors and last at least four to five days. Recently, a life safety engineer has been added to the surveyor complement. Depending on the size of the organization and the square footage requirements, additional days will be added for the life safety engineer.

The Joint Commission also may add more surveyors to a team if necessary. For example, if remote sites are some distance away from your hospital’s outlying campuses, or if you have long-term care or home care services, The Joint Commission might send additional surveyors for those sites.