• Effective CY2024, the PC requirements for “Large” facilities are no longer based on annual live birth volume; PC requirements apply to all “Large” HAP facilities that provide obstetrical services.

  • i.e. we no longer stratify OB requirements based on 1-299 or 300+ live births annually.

• Effective January 1, 2024, The Joint Commission implemented a new decision rule for hospitals and critical access hospitals to reinforce the requirement to participate in the ORYX® performance measurement initiative. Organizations may receive a Denial of Accreditation if they fail to meet ORYX performance measure reporting requirements for two consecutive years in the absence of receipt of an approved extenuating circumstance request from The Joint Commission. Refer to Key Communications for additional information.

  • Note: This is not retroactive to years prior to 2024; if an organization has ORYX requirements but does not submit required ORYX data via the DDSP, nor requests and receive an extenuating circumstance from The Joint Commission, and is non-responsive to our reminders to submit data or an ECR for two consecutive years (e.g. 2024 and 2025) they could receive a denial of accreditation for non-compliance.

• Applicable to CY2024 ORYX Requirements and effective July 1, 2024, acute care hospitals who are required through a CMS program to participate in NHSN will be required to join The Joint Commission NHSN Group. The Group will give Joint Commission access to the following measures with no patient identifiers: CAUTI, CLABSI, CDI, MRSA Bacteremia, SSI: Colon, SSI: Hyst. Information on the process to join The Joint Commission NSHN group will be distributed during 2024.

  • Note: Critical Access Hospitals may participate if they choose.

The annual reporting requirements and list of available measures are available on the Measurement > Reporting part of our external website or copy and paste the following web address in your internet browser: https://www.jointcommission.org/measurement/reporting/accreditation-oryx/

Retired: Effective 1/1/2024 patient discharges and applicable to CY2024 ORYX Requirements, The Joint Commission retired:

• Chart-abstracted measures:

  • Hospital-Based Inpatient Psychiatric Services - Multiple Antipsychotic Medications at Discharge with Appropriate Justification (HBIPS-5)

  • Tobacco Treatment Measures - Tobacco Use Treatment Provided or Offered (TOB-2) and Tobacco Use Treatment (TOB-2a)

• eCQMs:

  • Admit Decision Time to ED Departure Time for Admitted Patients (eED-2) 

  • Discharged on Statin Medication (eSTK-6) [Note: the chart-abstracted STK-6 measure remains required for applicable Stroke certification programs]

Added: Effective 1/1/2024 patient discharges and applicable to CY2024 ORYX Requirements, The Joint Commission added:

• Chart-abstracted measures:

  • Screening for Social Drivers of Health (SDOH-1)

  • Screen Positive Rate for Social Drivers of Health (SDOH-2)

• eCQMs:

  • Hospital-Harm—Opioid Related Adverse Events eCQM (HH-ORAE)

  • Global Malnutrition Composite Score eCQM (GMCS)

CMS is the steward for these measures and the specifications are available on the eCQI Resource Center. These measures are not required for 2024 collection but are offered as an optional measures to meet ORYX requirements.

The CY2024 reporting requirements and list of available measures are available on our the Measurement > Reporting part of our external website or copy and paste the following web address in your internet browser: https://www.jointcommission.org/measurement/reporting/accreditation-oryx/

Per the description in your Joint Commission Connect eApp/General Application under Hospital site information > “Volume”, outpatient visits: Includes all clinics, outpatient surgery, physical therapy, radiology. Excludes all Laboratory tests.