Joint Commission-accredited behavioral healthcare organizations that provide outpatient or residential eating disorders programs will be held to new standards by the accreditation organization beginning this summer.
The goal of new behavioral healthcare standards is to improve the quality of care, treatment or services involved in eating disorders programs.
According to Tracy Collander, executive director of the Joint Commission's Behavioral Health Care Accreditation Program, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate among people with behavioral health disorders.
"They can cause very complex emotional and physical problems, resulting in severe medical consequences, including heart disease, bone loss, muscle weakness and depression," said Ms. Collander. "This is why the Joint Commission decided it was so important to develop and implement new standards to improve patient safety and quality of care for eating disorder patients and their families."
The standards go over eating disorders program assessments, data collection and analysis, transitions of care, staff and clinician roles, patient supervision and family involvement, to name a few aspects.
The prepublication standards are available on the Joint Commission website. They will go into effect July 1.
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