214006 Beyond Compliance: The Need for A Systems Approach to Address Joint Commission Cultural Competence Standards

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Janice L. Dreachslin, PhD , Management Division, Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies, Malvern, PA
Robert Weech-Maldonado, MBA PhD , Department of Health Services Administration, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Joyce Anne Wainio, MHA , National Center for Healthcare Leadership, Chicago, IL
Marie Sinioris, MPH , National Center for Healthcare Leadership, Chicago, IL
The Joint Commission, with implementation to occur in 2011, recently released proposed cultural competence standards. The National Center for Healthcare Leadership (www.nchl.org) reviewed the proposed standards and developed an evidence-based systems approach for health care organizations to proactively assess and improve their performance against the standards. The systems approach is grounded in evidence from the leadership and organizational change literature and results in an organization-specific action plan to improve performance. First, the proposed standards are reviewed and the evidence base for the systems approach to diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence is presented to participating organizations. Then, participating organizations assess their baseline performance by completing two assessments: one focused on the leadership and diversity management infrastructure in the organization and the other on policies and practices to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate care. Results are mapped to the standards and to existing models for diversity and cultural competence including the CLAS Standards and the National Quality Forum's (NQF) seven domains to report and assess cultural competence: Leadership; Integration into Management Systems and Operations; Patient-Provider Communication; Care Delivery and Supporting Mechanisms; Workforce Diversity and Training; Community Engagement; Data Collection, Public Accountability, and Quality Improvement. The systems approach and the evidence base for it are reviewed in the context of the proposed Joint Commission cultural competence standards and case examples of the approach are presented.

Learning Areas:
Administration, management, leadership
Diversity and culture

Learning Objectives:
The attendee will be able to: 1. Describe the proposed Joint Commission cultural competence standards 2. Define the systems approach to diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence 3. Discuss the evidence-base for a systems approach to meet the proposed Joint Commission cultural competence standards

Keywords: Cultural Competency, Leadership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: My research focus is diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence in health care organizations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.