Joint Commission Readiness

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is due for a Joint Commission inspection this year. Our radiology department is preparing by doing monthly tracers in each modality. The tracers test our knowledge of the guidelines and grades are area re: compliance (i.e., HIPAA). We also have had 6 one hour mandatory classes to educate the staff regarding Joint Commission guidelines.

One of our major concerns has been "first dose" compliance as applied to contrast. Thankfully, the Joint Commission's release at the end of January has made this much simpler. We have mandated that all the staff members complete a contrast module outlining the safe processes of giving contrast including knowledge of pharmacy and radiology approved contrast dosing protocols.