In a recent Q&A on the FacilityCare website, consultant Brad Keyes answered a question about scheduling challenges for quarterly fire system testing and inspections.
Q: Heading into 2014, what strategies are other hospitals using in scheduling their quarterly fire systems inspections? Our vendor is not always able to schedule us within the tight 20-day window each quarter that the Joint Commission now requires. So by definition, our schedule will now be in flux, depending on the completion date of the last inspection, rather than set in the same month each quarter.
A: I do not know what other organizations are doing in regard to challenges with the new quarterly testing requirements. However, I think there is a way you can deal with this issue. I suggest you contact George Mills at the Joint Commission (gmills@jointcommission.org) and discuss your options concerning the challenges in meeting the quarterly test/inspection window. Ask him if you can submit a traditional equivalency that would allow you a wider window each quarter for the testing/inspection frequency, other than the plus-or-minus 10-day window.
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