Coastal Hospice & Palliative Care announces it has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Home Care Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with hospice performance standards.
The Joint Commission awards the Gold Seal of Approval, a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective care, for a three-year period.
Accreditation is not required of hospice providers. Coastal Hospice subscribes to The Joint Commission as one way to validate that the organization goes above and beyond the minimum standards of quality.
Additionally, the accreditation process helps Coastal Hospice remain current with best practices among providers. As a result of this survey, the Coastal Hospice team not only learns from others in the field but also contributes its own best practices to the profession.
Coastal Hospice underwent a rigorous on-site survey in December 2014. A surveyor from The Joint Commission evaluated the organization’s compliance with home care standards reflecting key organization areas, including the provision of care, treatment and services, emergency management, human resources, individual rights and responsibilities and leadership.
“When individuals engage a home care provider, they want to be sure that provider is capable of providing safe, quality care,” Margherita Labson, RN, M.S., executive director of the Home Care Accreditation program for The Joint Commission, said.
“As the home care setting becomes increasingly popular, it is important that home care providers are able to demonstrate they are capable of providing safe, high quality care,” she continued. “Accreditation by The Joint Commission and the Gold Seal serve as an indication that the organization has demonstrated compliance to these recognized standards of safe and quality care.”
The Joint Commission’s hospice standards are developed in consultation with health care experts, home care providers and researchers, as well as industry experts, purchasers and consumers. The standards are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help organizations measure, assess and improve performance.
“Coastal Hospice is pleased to once again receive accreditation from The Joint Commission,” Alane Capen, president of Coastal Hospice, said. “Staff from across our organization continue to work together to strengthen the services we offer and deliver excellent hospice care for those in our community.”
Founded in 1951 as an independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards setting and accrediting body in health care. It accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including hospitals and health care organizations that provide ambulatory and office-based surgery, behavioral health, home care, laboratory and nursing home services.
The Joint Commission’s Home Care Accreditation program, established in 1988, supports the efforts of its accredited organizations to help deliver safe, high quality care and services. More than 6,000 home care programs, including Coastal Hospice, currently maintain accreditation by The Joint Commission.
Founded in 1980, Coastal Hospice is a nonprofit health care organization that cares for individuals facing life-limiting conditions but who want to remain as active and engaged as possible. Coastal Hospice cares for patients in their home, nursing home, assisted living facility or at Coastal Hospice at the Lake. The organization serves Wicomico, Worcester, Dorchester and Somerset counties.
