MS.1.20 Task Force reaches consensus

The Joint Commission has announced that the MS.1.20 Task Force has reached consensus on MS.1.20. This change to the Joint Commission standards addresses how medical staff bylaws and other governing documents are structured. The Joint Commission plans to move to field review of the Task Force recommendations. The Task Force, which met 12 times, focused its discussions on several key issues, including:

▪ What needs to appear in the medical staff bylaws and how such decisions are made.
▪ The relationship between the organized medical staff and the medical executive committee.
▪ How to foster a collaborative and positive relationship among the management, medical staff and governing body.
▪ How to manage conflict that may arise between the organized medical staff and the governing body, or between the organized medical staff and the medical executive committee, regarding medical staff bylaws, rules and regulations, and policies.
▪ The definitions of terms that appear in the standard.

For more information on these standards go to
http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/0AEB00D3-939E-416F-B5EC-D11172DBDA81/0/jconline071509.pdf