2012 Joint Commission Tobacco Measures

The Joint Commission, the independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies most U.S. hospitals, has updated its performance measures regarding the identification and treatment of tobacco users during hospitalizations.  Effective January 1, 2012, the new tobacco treatment performance measure set will be included as one of fourteen Joint Commission performance measure sets for hospitals.  Joint Commission accredited hospitals must select four measure sets from this list of fourteen.  Hospitals have the option to specifically choose the tobacco treatment measure set for reporting but are not required to do so.

Dr. Michael Fiore*, director of the University of the Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), chaired the technical advisory panel (TAP) that worked with the Joint Commission to develop the new four-component tobacco measure set.  Dr. Nancy Rigotti, who directs the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center in the School of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), also served on the panel

Click herefor a guide produced by Action to Quit on the Joint Commission measures.

*Dr. Fiore served as chair of the panel that produced the United States Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence in 2008.