The Joint Commission Explains Patient Identification Requirement Changes
Response to comments from Dennis Ernst of the Center for Phlebotomy Education
Recently Dark Daily alerted clinical laboratory readers to a decision by The Joint Commission to change their requirements for patient identification. Included was the opinion of Dennis Ernst, MT(ASCP), long time Director of the Center for Phlebotomy Education, that The Joint Commission’s decision to change patient identification requirements was a step backwards in patient safety. (See Dark Daily, “Joint Commission Changes Requirement for Patient ID during Blood Draws” ).
In particular, Ernst was troubled that the new patient identification protocols no longer require a healthcare worker to have the patient state his or her name before blood is drawn. He contacted The Joint Commission to inquire about this change. He related to Dark Daily that officials at TJC had informed him that, in their surveys of clients, there was a feeling that this specific requirement was “burdensome and unnecessary.”
