Focus on compliance: Using data to enhance the physical environment of care

The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) Focus on Compliance programme was developed to help health care organisations improve their compliance to the most often cited Environment of Care and Life Safety Joint Commission standards, thus providing an environment that is built and maintained to support patient care and provide the necessary life safety features for patients incapable of self-preservation. This paper provides an overview of the root cause analysis of citations issued during the Joint Commission surveys of hospitals during 2014. Through this analysis, root causes were determined for the failed compliance, and while this is important to be able to truly understand what the difficulties are in meeting compliance standards, it has also provided ASHE with valuable data to develop tools and resources for improved compliance, thus helping to optimise the health care physical environment and improving patient safety. By understanding these root causations and availing themselves of the tools and resources available, health care organisations can not only improve their compliance and therefore provide safer facilities, but, even more importantly, provide better patient care for those whom they serve. This paper is aimed at health care engineers, safety officers, compliance officers, patient safety managers and executive staff.