Three important Joint Commission reports are recommended reading and available for download, free of charge, via The Joint Commission’s Web site.
“Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation” calls for and outlines the national strategies needed to better serve increasingly the diverse patient population in American hospitals. Download the complete report here.
“Improving America's Hospitals: A Report on Quality and Safety” details the successes hospitals have achieved via performance improvement processes since 2002. Download the complete report here.
“‘What Did the Doctor Say?:’ Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety" examines the existing communications gap between patients and caregivers as a series of challenges involving literacy, language, and culture, and suggests multiple steps that need to be taken to narrow or even close this gap. Download the complete report here.