DDSP BASICS

Key benefits of the DDSP include:

• 24/7 access during the submission period,

• Easy to use data visuals,

• Cloud-based Platform environment with fast file transfer,

• Robust security and HIPAA compliance,

• State of the art rules engine for eCQM data,

• Transparency

• Hospitals can see results and outcomes prior to the final submission step of submitting data to The Joint Commission.

The DDSP does not replace the hospital’s ONC-ACB certified Healthcare Record (EHR) and/or Health Information Technology (HIT) vendor(s) being used to capture patient data and/or generate their QRDA I documents.

The Direct Data Submission Platform does not replace the Joint Commission Connect site.

“Joint Commission Connect” is a secure website portal used by The Joint Commission for accreditation/certification purposes and related survey activity.

The DDSP is a separate secure website specifically designed to support hospital’s activities of submitting performance measurement data to The Joint Commission to meet ORYX reporting requirements.

The Joint Commission and CMS are separate entities with separate requirements. The DDSP does not replace chart-abstracted or eCQM data submission to CMS using the QualityNet secure portal. CMS' QualityNet is specifically for receiving the submission of eCQM and chart-abstracted data to CMS only. CMS' QualityNet portal does not share/send data to The Joint Commission for a hospital’s eCQM or chart-abstracted measures. The Joint Commission cannot provide QualityNet with Joint Commission data.

The DDSP does not replace CMIP. The DDSP is for submission of accreditation data. CMIP is for manually entering certification data.

The Joint Commission has completed a rigorous evaluation process of the privacy and security components of the technology to ensure the DDSP meets privacy and security standards. Additional details regarding the compliance of the privacy and security standards is available in the Legal section of the DDSP.

Hospitals need to ensure they use a supported internet browser version to be able to use the DDSP.

1: Prior versions may work; however, they are not tested or guaranteed to work.

2: The Grammarly extension can cause some of the DDSP pages to display incorrectly and some page functionality to not work.  If you experience issues with the DDSP using Chrome and have this extension enabled; we recommend that you log out of the DDSP, disable Grammarly, and log back into the DDSP to determine if this extension is causing your issues. 

NOTE:  If you are not using one of the supported browser/versions on the computer(s) for use with the Joint Commission DDSP, please work with your internal information systems staff to download or upgrade to one of the browser/versions listed.  If you elect not to use a supported browser/version, you may not be able to log into the DDSP or use all of its functionality.  Browsers should be configured to enable JavaScript. 

The Joint Commission utilizes several resources to provide support to DDSP users. Verify with your internal IT department these emails have been added to a “safe-sender” list and not blocked or routed to junk/spam/clutter:

• The Signatory Official is specific to the DDSP.

• They are the first person to log onto the DDSP for a given hospital.

• The Signatory is the hospital representative who has signing authority on behalf of their hospital(s) and agrees to and accept the required legal forms related to the DDSP.

• Once the platform has been initially accessed and the legal agreements signed, the Signatory is now simply a user on the Platform.

• After initially accessing the DDSP, the Signatory can invite additional users to access their DDS workspace. These additional users may include other staff who can invite and manage other users.

• The Signatory is not necessarily the same person who performs the data submission process. On-boarding is related to the agreement and acceptance of the required legal forms related to the DDSP.

• Signatory's should on-board as early as possible to facilitate the review and acceptance of the legal forms.

There are two or three distinct steps required to utilize the DDSP:

(1) hospital onboarding (See Question/Answer 8.13 for information regarding onboarding);

(2) For eCQMs, (A) uploading QRDA I documents and (B) submitting eCQM data;

(3) For Chart-Abstracted Measures, entering and saving aggregate data.

NOTE: Each hospital is responsible for all users who are invited and granted permissions on the DDSP per the legal agreements.

The Signatory Official is specific to the DDSP onboarding process and may or may not be the same as the hospital’s ORYX Contact. The DDSP does not modify the ORYX Contact on Joint Commission Connect.

Existing hospitals completed an onboarding request in CY2022 where they provided the name of the Signatory who would sign off on use of the platform on behalf of their hospital or healthcare system. The Signatory Official is the first person to initially access the DDSP and signs off on the legal documents on behalf of the hospital. Once a hospital has accessed the Platform and additional users have been granted access, there is no longer need for a specified Signatory Official. If a newly accredited organization is unable to access the DDSP, or an existing hospital is unable to access the DDSP due to staff changes, they should contact hcooryx@jointcommission.org .

Hospital staff using the DDSP for measure submission can grant external user permissions to assist with functionality at their discretion. Hospital staff can add/invite users via the DDSP menu topic, “Invite & Manage Users”. Hospital staff using the Joint Commission’s DDSP are responsible for the data submission process and the relationships with users on the DDSP.

Effective 1/1/2020, The Joint Commission no longer has contracts with ORYX vendors and there is no longer a list of Joint Commission approved ORYX vendors. All hospitals utilize the DDSP for submission of both chart-abstracted measures and eCQMs data for accreditation purposes. Hospitals have the option of inviting a third-party consultant, such as a vendor, to the DDSP to assist with data submission at their discretion.

DDSP ONBOARDING AND ACCESS

Once the Signatory has accepted the initial invitation and additional users have been invited, the DDSP can be accessed via the external Joint Commission website log in page https://www.jointcommission.org/login/

https://www.jointcommission.org/login/

All existing Hospitals need to be onboarded to the new Joint Commission DDSP regardless of whether or not they were on the prior platform. Onboarding to the new DDSP occurred in July 2022.

After the initial onboarding to the new platform in 2022, any hospitals that are newly accredited and need to be onboarded to the DDSP should contact The Joint Commission via email to: hcooryx@jointcommission.org

All HCOs required to submit ORYX data for accreditation purposes need to onboard and access the DDSP. The Joint Commission initially onboards each hospital’s identified Signatory Official.
The hospital is responsible for all users who are invited and granted permissions on the DDSP per the legal agreements signed by the hospital.  The users granted permission could include hospital staff, healthcare system staff and anyone else who is needed to assist in a successful submission of data for the hospital (e.g., consultant, vendor).

Each individual who accepts an invitation to the DDSP will have a username and password. For reasons of security and privacy, as a user, you are responsible for not sharing your username and password.

The DDSP utilizes “Multi Factor Authentication” as an extra layer of security beyond a password and username. Additional information pending.

• The Signatory Official selects one of the onboarding emails they receive from the Joint Commission for their specific hospitals and login.

• Signatory Official create their login and password prior to onboarding the first hospital.

• After agreeing and accepting the required legal forms related to the DDSP for the selected hospital, the Signatory Official should remain logged in. The purpose of remaining logged in is to simplify the process of onboarding the remaining hospitals.

• The Signatory Official selects each onboarding email (one for each hospital) and agrees and accepts the required legal forms for each hospital.

• If the Signatory Official logs out of the DDSP, they are prompted to log back in using the login/password previously created when they begin onboarding their remaining hospitals.

• Signatory Official that completed the onboarding process for other hospitals may log in to additional facilities by using their existing login and password, then accept remaining platform invitations for their other facilities.

• Once onboarding of multiple hospitals has been completed, the Signatory Official is able to navigate between these hospitals to perform other activities without having to logout.

All DDSP Users will read and agree to a DDSP User Agreement.  This document defines the rules which users must agree to abide by to use the DDSP. This document is signed once by the user.

The Signatory Official for each hospital will read and agree to an HCO Agreement on behalf of their organization.  The Signatory Official must be a hospital representative who has signing authority on behalf of their hospital(s) and is authorized to agree to and accept the required legal forms related to the DDSP.  The Signatory Official signing for multiple hospitals must individually sign the HCO Agreement for each hospital.

Hospital’s were provided with onboarding information to the new DDSP May 10, 2022. Once the person indicated as the Signatory accepts their platform invitation and initially accesses the new DDSP, they are responsible for inviting one or more additional users to manage platform functions.

Work with your ORYX contact or Quality Manager to determine who is on the platform and able to invite additional users, or contact hcooryx@jointcommission.org if you are uncertain who your organization’s internal contacts are.

If your organization did not receive information to onboard or are a newly accredited facility, contact hcooryx@jointcommission.org and be certain to provide your HCO ID # in the subject line of your email.

• Educational resources were made available during the onboarding process.

• Once users are on the platform, they have access to additional resources from within the workspace, including “how to” videos, documentation, FAQs, and Troubleshooting tips to assist with answering common questions.

• Users will be able to open Support Tickets from within the Platform if they are unable to troubleshoot issue with the existing platform resources.

• The Joint Commission will conduct "Office Hours" webinars regarding use of the Direct Data Submission Platform for submission of chart-abstracted and eCQMs. Content of these webinars will include tips for successful use of the DDSP and frequently asked questions. The office hours are staffed by The Joint Commission staff to answer questions for hospitals. The invitations to office hours will be sent to all platform users.

MEASURE SELECTIONS

The Joint Commission has discontinued using an annual measure selection form. Hospitals manage their measure selections directly for The Joint Commission within the DDSP.

Yes, hospitals may collect data on both the corresponding chart-abstracted measure and eCQM. For example, you may report on both ED-2 and eED-2 or, if you provide Obstetrical Services, PC-01 and ePC-01.

NOTE: Beginning CY2021, any or all of the required chart-abstracted Perinatal Care Measures (PC-01, PC-02, PC-05 and PC-06), HCOs may submit eCQM data (ePC-01, ePC-02, ePC-05 and ePC-06) instead of four quarters of the corresponding chart-abstracted measures.

Yes. Hospitals manage the measures being submitted to The Joint Commission directly within the DDSP.

CHART ABSTRACTED: Organizations must select and provide data for the same chart abstracted measures for the entire calendar year.

eCQM: Organizations upload the eCQMs to the DDSP. Those required or electing to submit eCQMs must submit data per posted annual requirements for self-selected calendar quarters (the quarters do not need to be consecutive), and the same eCQMs must be submitted for all quarters.