The Joint Commission

Resources, Links, & Abbreviations

Owned by Kelly C
Last updated: Jan 10, 2024
5 min read

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Topics Covered in this section:

Resources:

The following are a list of RESOURCES available on the Measurement portion of The Joint Commission website:

The following are a list of RESOURCES available on the Measurement portion of The Joint Commission website:

  1. ORYX Performance Measurement REQUIREMENTS by organization type and a list of measures:

  1. ORYX Performance Measurement REQUIREMENTS by organization type and a list of measures:

2. ORYX Data Submission TIMELINE – under “Resources” > “Supporting Materials”: 

2. ORYX Data Submission TIMELINE – under “Resources” > “Supporting Materials”: 

3. DATA ENTRY GUIDE for Chart Abstracted Measures:

3. DATA ENTRY GUIDE for Chart Abstracted Measures:

  • LINK:

4. Joint Commission SPECIFICATIONS for both Chart Abstracted Measures and eCQMs:

4. Joint Commission SPECIFICATIONS for both Chart Abstracted Measures and eCQMs:

  • LINK:

5. QUALITY CHECK:

5. QUALITY CHECK:

  • LINK:

  1. CDC: National Healthcare Safety Network

  1. CDC: National Healthcare Safety Network

  • LINK:

7. CMS: eCQI Resource Center:

7. CMS: eCQI Resource Center:

8. CMS: eCQM Annual Specifications, Value Sets, & Other Associated Documentation 

8. CMS: eCQM Annual Specifications, Value Sets, & Other Associated Documentation 

  • Who to contact with questions related to how CMS eCQMs are specified; For questions related to eCQM implementation specifications, logic, data elements, standards, or tools, use the eCQM Issue Tracker project in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) Project Tracking System (Jira) at ONC Project Tracking System:

  • ONC Project Tracking System LINK:

  • ONC Project Tracking System URL: https://oncprojectracking.healthit.gov/wiki/olp

9. TJC: eCQM Annual Specifications, Value Sets, & Other Associated Documentation 

9. TJC: eCQM Annual Specifications, Value Sets, & Other Associated Documentation 

  • TJC Only measures; LINK:

  • Who to contact with questions related to how Joint Commission eCQMs are specified:

  • Please submit a question on the Q&A site LINK:

  • Please submit a question on the Q&A site URL:  http://manual.jointcommission.org/

  1. NHSN: National Healthcare Safety Network

  1. NHSN: National Healthcare Safety Network

  • LINK:

 

Abbreviations / Glossary:

ADC: Average Daily Census

ALC: Assisted Living Community

BAA: Business Associate Agreement

CAM: Chart-abstracted measure
CAH: Critical Access Hospital

CCN: CMS Certification Number

CDC: Center for Disease Control & Prevention

CMIP: Certification Measurement Information Process

CMS: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CQL: Clinical Quality Language
CY: Calendar Year

DDSP: Direct Data Submission Platform

eAPP: Electronic Application General (within an Organization’s Joint Commission Connect site)

eCQM: electronic Clinical Quality Measure

ECR: Extenuating Circumstance Request

ED: Emergency Department

EHR: Electronic Health Record

EULA: End User License Agreement

HAP: Hospital Accreditation Program

HCO: Healthcare Organization

HIQR: Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (CMS)

NHSN: National Healthcare Safety Network

ORYX: Joint Commission specific Performance Measurement program

PC: Perinatal Care

PMR: Performance Measure Report

QRDA: Quality Reporting Data Architecture

TJC: The Joint Commission

ToS: Terms of Service

 

Where to Ask Questions

  • ORYX

  • Certification

  • Specifications

  • DDSP

  • Standards

  • General

ORYX Performance Measurement: This topic includes ORYX policy questions, applicable measures, issues accessing the DDSP.

Please submit your question for ORYX and Performance Measurement related processes via email to  hcooryx@jointcommission.org  – (e.g., Topics related to ORYX measure requirements, extenuating circumstance requests, newly accredited organizations with ORYX requirements, new access to the Direct Data Submission Platform).

Certification / CMIP: This topic includes Certification Program questions, applicable measures, issues accessing CMIP, issues with CMIP.

Please submit your certification program / CMIP questions to your certification account executive - indicated in your Joint Commission Connect site on the landing page header.

Measure Interpretation: This topic includes measure questions related to measure interpretation, patient data outliers, etc.

Please submit your question to the Wiki site: https://manual.jointcommission.org/ . This insures that your question is directed to the appropriate clinical lead for the measures and additionally allows us to track queries and response time. If the user does not have a wiki login, there is an option to register after the user clicks on the “log on” icon. Once the user has a wiki login they can submit clinical questions re: chart-abstracted measures.

Screenshot of Specifications Manual section on jointcommission.org website indicating the location of the Have a Question Button

 

NOTE: For CMS supported eCQMs, please refer questions related to CMS program eCQMs to the ONC JIRA eCQM issue tracker:

Direct Data Submission Platform:

All platform specific questions should be submitted via the DDSP “Need Help?” icon. This allows us to route inquiries to the appropriate technical staff to assist you.

Log in to the DDSP: https://www.jointcommission.org/login/

Submitting questions/issues/suggestions regarding the DDSP as a support ticket also helps us identify issue areas and opportunities for improvement.

Screenshot image of the Joint Commission DDSP indicating the location of the Need Help button

Standards Interpretation Group:

Please go to http://www.jointcommission.org

Scroll down the home page to the section that says Connect With Us.

Click on the words “Ask a Standards Question”.  

(For a SAFETY concern or COMPLAINT, click the icon Report a Safety Event.)

Please check if your question is already answered in the FAQ’s, that is the fastest way to find your answer. If you do not see your question in the FAQs, AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE, click on Standards Interpretations Group (SIG).

 Here is where you can see if your question has already been answered, it’s just below the section “Answering Your Questions About Our Standards:

 

Scroll down to the “Ask a standards interpretation question” button to get the form to submit a question:

This will be the form you see.  After you submit, you’ll get a web ticket number and a time frame for your response.

 

General Inquiries: 

If you are uncertain where to direct your question or have a general inquiry not related to the above topics, you may contact your Account Executive indicated in your Joint Commission Connect site or submit a general question via our website: https://www.jointcommission.org/contact-us/

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