Starting July 1, the Joint Commission will offer advanced certification for spine surgery.
The certification program was created in collaboration with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and will be available to ASCs, hospitals and critical access hospitals that perform spine procedures, according to a May 4 news release from the commission.
The Joint Commission certifies more than 100 spine organizations through its disease-specific care certification program. The advanced certification for spine surgery will add a more in-depth assessment of spine surgery programs.
The advanced certification program will include on-site observations by Joint Commission reviewers and data collection for clinical performance measures. Data collection measures include surgical site infection rates, new neurological deficits, unplanned return visits to the operating room and preoperative and postoperative patient-reported outcomes.