Joint Commission Launches New COPD Certification Program

October 30, 2007

The Joint Commission has officially launched its COPD Disease-Specific Care Program. Based on standards developed with input from an expert task force that included AARC member Brian L. Smith, BA, RRT, the program will give health care organizations the chance to demonstrate their commitment to state-of-the-art practices in the management of COPD.

“Every respiratory therapist should be very proud that the Joint Commission recognized the importance of input from the AARC in establishing their COPD certification program,” says Smith, who serves as the administrative/clinical director of respiratory care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL, and a member of the faculty in the department of anesthesiology at Northwestern University. “The disease-specific care standards for COPD management that were developed for this certification program are inclusive of, and reflect the professionalism of, the respiratory therapist.”

Respiratory therapists are specifically included on the list of clinicians who have the educational background, experience, training, and/or certification needed to meet the program’s mission, goals, and objectives. The list also includes pulmonary function lab technicians, pulmonary rehabilitation staff, and sleep lab technicians, among others.

Another section lists practitioners and services to which COPD patients may be referred. Pulmonary rehabilitation programs and respiratory therapists are again on the list.

Key elements of the program include:

• A standard method of delivering or coordinating care;
• Implementation of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines;
• A secure and timely system for sharing information across settings and providers that safeguards patient rights and privacy;
• A comprehensive performance improvement program that uses outcomes data to continually enhance existing treatment plans and clinical practices; and
• Clinical practices that support the patient’s self-management activities.

“In just over 40 years, key medical and scientific discoveries have deepened our knowledge of chronic bronchitis and emphysema to the point where we can effectively treat COPD,” says Bernadette Toomey, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, which collaborated with the Joint Commission on the program. “Evidence shows that when health care professionals focus on the whole patient and apply best practice, patients do have the best outcomes, The Certificate of Distinction for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease recognizes those programs that foster the best patient outcomes and moves us toward the goal of patients having access to this state-of-the-art approach.”

“The Joint Commission’s Certificate of Distinction for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease recognizes organizations that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for COPD patients,” says Jean Range, MS, RN, CPHQ, the Joint Commission’s executive director of Disease-Specific Care Certification. “Achievement of certification signifies that the services at these organizations have the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes. It is the best signal to the community that the quality of care provided is effectively managed to meet the unique and specialized needs of COPD patients.”