The Joint Commission
AOTA provides ongoing input to The Joint Commission standards and survey processes through active membership and participation in several Professional and Technical Advisory Committees (PTACs . The Professional and Technical Advisory committees were established in 1992 to improve communications with health care professional groups and ensure that the Joint Commission gets important input when developing its services and products. Today, more than 200 professional organizations are involved in the PTACs. AOTA participates in PTACs for the following Joint Commission accreditation programs: Ambulatory Care, Behavioral Healthcare, Hospitals, Home Care and Long-Term Care, and Assisted Living.
All input to The Joint Commission related to rehab is coordinated through the Coalition of Rehabilitation Therapy Organizations (CRTO) which includes representation from AOTA, APTA, ASHA, ATRA, and NCCATA.
Representatives from each of the five national associations are selected to be members of CRTO and represent the coalition on each Joint Commission Professional and Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC). Each year AOTA appoints member volunteers to serve as representatives to CRTO, representing CRTO on each of the Joint Commission Professional and Technical Advisory Committees (PTAC). The associations assigned to PTAC slots are rotated. Elin Schold Davis OTR/L, CDRS is the AOTA Liaison to each PTAC when the representative or alternative representative is not an AOTA representative.
An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 17,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. The mission of the Joint Commission is to "continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations."
The Joint Commission is the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Since 1951, the Joint Commission has maintained state-of-the-art standards that focus on improving the quality and safety of care provided by health care organizations. The Joint Commission's comprehensive accreditation process evaluates an organization's compliance with these standards and other accreditation requirements.
The Joint Commission also awards Disease-Specific Care (DSC) Certification to health plans, disease management service companies, hospitals, and other care delivery settings that provide disease management and chronic care services. The Joint Commission's Certification Program for DSC provides a comprehensive evaluation of disease or condition-specific services, including, but not limited to asthma, diabetes, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, skin and wound management, and primary stroke care.
The AOTA representatives for 2013 are:
Behavioral Health Care PTAC
Representative
Linda M. Olson, MS, OTR/L
Term: Jan 2012 - Dec 2017
Alternate Representative
Deborah B. Pitts, MBA, OTR/L, BCMH, CPRP
Term: Jan 2012 - Dec 2017
Home Care PTAC
Home Care PTAC ViceChair and CRTO Representative
Carol Siebert, MS, OTR/L
Term: Jan 2008 - Dec 2013
Alternate Representative
Elin Schold-Davis, OTR/L, CDRS
Term: Jan 2008 - Dec 2013
Long Term Care PTAC
AOTA Liaison
Nancy Z. Richman OTR/L, FAOTA
Hospital PTAC
AOTA Liaison
Letty Sargant OTR/L
AOTA Liaison
Lauro A. Munoz, MOT, OTR, C/NDT
AOTA would like to recognize and thank these volunteers for committing their time with AOTA to keep us informed of changes and their potential impact on occupational therapy practice and the care of our clients.
If you are interested in volunteering to be an AOTA member representative, or serve in an advisory position to the AOTA representatives and liaison's to CRTO, please contact the AOTA Liaison Elin Schold Davis, OTR/L, CDRS at escholddavis@aota.org.
Members of the Coalition of Rehabilitation Therapy Organizations (CRTO)
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
Elin Schold-Davis, OTR/L, CDRS
5117 Abercrombie Dr
Edina, MN 55439
(301) 652-6611 x2200
escholddavis@aota.org
American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)
Anita Bemis-Dougherty, PT, DPT, MAS
Associate Director of Practice
American Physical Therapy Association
1111 N Fairfax St
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 706-8513
anitabemis-dougherty@apta.org
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Gennith Johnson, MCD, CCC-SLP
Associate Director, Health Care Services
Speech-Language Pathology
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
2200 Research Blvd
Rockville, MD 20850
(301) 296-5700
gjohnson@asha.org
American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA)
Tim Passmore, EdD,CTRS
Associate Professor
School of Applied Health & Educational Psychology
Oklahoma State University
186 Covin
Stillwater, OK 74078
405-744-1811
Tim.passmore@okstate.edu
National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Association (NCCATA)
Judy Simpson, MPH,MT-BC
Director, Government Relations
American Music Therapy Association
8455 Colesville Rd, Ste 1000
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-589-3300
Simpson@musictherapy.org
Read the Joint Commission newsletters here.
