PLEASANT GAP – HealthSouth Nittany Valley Rehabilitation Hospital has again earned The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification for four of its rehabilitation programs: stroke rehabilitation, Parkinson’s disease, heart failure and brain injury rehabilitation. The re-certification award recognizes HealthSouth’s commitment to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards.
The physical rehabilitation hospital also earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval(r) for accreditation and certification by demonstrating compliance with national standards for advanced rehabilitation services, health care quality and patient safety.
HealthSouth underwent a rigorous on-site review of the four rehabilitation programs, which was completed on April 2.
A Joint Commission expert evaluated HealthSouth for compliance with standards of care specific to the needs of patients and families, including infection prevention and control, leadership and medication management.
“With Joint Commission certification, we are making a significant investment in the quality of care we provide on a day-to-day basis. Joint Commission accreditation helps create a culture of excellence,” says HealthSouth Nittany Valley’s Chief Executive Officer Susan Hartman. “Achieving re-certification from The Joint Commission is a major step toward maintaining excellence and continually improving the care we provide.”
The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification Program, launched in 2002, is designed to evaluate clinical programs across the continuum of care.
Certification requirements address three core areas: compliance with consensus-based national standards; effective use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care; and an organized approach to performance measurement and improvement activities.
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 10,600 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,600 other health care organizations that provide long term care, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services.
The Joint Commission also certifies more than 2,400 disease-specific care programs such as stroke, heart failure, joint replacement and stroke rehabilitation, and 400 health care staffing services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.