Eight new anticoagulant EPs added to NPSG

The Joint Commission (TJC) announced revisions to its anticoagulant therapy National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) on December 7. NPSG 03.05.01 has eight new Elements of Performance (EPs). The accreditor wrote that the changes are a response to a rise in adverse drug events tied to direct oral anticoagulants.

All the changes are listed in R3 Report 19 and will take effect on July 1, 2019. The update applies to all TJC accredited hospitals, critical access hospitals, nursing care centers, and medical centers accredited under the ambulatory health care program.

The update comes nine days after TJC released updates to its suicide prevention NPSG. Those changes will also go into effect in July.

The update requires impacted facilities to:

• Have evidence-based protocols for starting, continuing, and reversing anticoagulant treatment
• Establish processes for responding to adverse drug events and bleeding
• Educate patients on anticoagulant treatment
• Use devices desinged to reduce dosing errors, such as programmable pumps and pre-filled syringes

More on this topic will be in future editions of Briefings on Accreditation and Quality