Code status admission order update
27 Feb 2022Mandatory order for all inpatient admissions beginning March 22
By: Kovid Trivedi, MD, Salem Pulmonary Associates
Several years ago, Salem Health medical staff leadership created a code status policy to align with best practice recommendations from The Joint Commission and CMS. This policy aimed to improve the patient quality and their right to refusal of care by requiring providers to address and enter the code status order for patients within 24 hours of admission. During The Joint Commission’s last site visit in 2019, Salem Health was cited for not following this policy. In response, a workgroup led by Dr. Kovid Trivedi has helped educate medical staff on how to operationalize this important effort and ensure all patients have their code status addressed.
To finalize this work, and to prepare for The Joint Commission’s upcoming visit, code status order entry will now become mandatory for all inpatient admissions starting on March 22. Current state reveals that only some provider order sets have the code status order entry as a hard stop. Starting with the March 22 go-live date, all commonly used order sets that are used for admission or post-op care will now have the code status order inculcated as a hard stop. Please know that for providers that do not use order sets, the expectation is that the code status order will be placed upon admission as a standalone order. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Below is a screen shot of the order panel for your reference.
