According to a Dec. 5 press release, the Joint Commission announced a voluntary Responsible Use of Health Data (RUHD) Certification program for U.S. hospitals and critical access hospitals, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
The press release states that “Protecting patient privacy is a foundational element of a strong data use policy. The new certification will provide guidance and recognize healthcare organizations navigating the appropriate sensitivities needed to safely use data for purposes beyond clinical care, known as secondary use of data.”
Further, “Secondary use of data includes quality and operations improvement, discovery, or algorithm and artificial intelligence development. The certification will provide an objective evaluation as to whether an organization is committed to utilizing best practices in its secondary use of data and promoting responsible use of data by demonstrating established protocols regarding transparency, limitations of use and patient engagement.”
Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, MACP, FACMI, president and chief executive officer, The Joint Commission Enterprise is quoted in the release saying that “As more healthcare organizations are leveraging clinical data for secondary purposes, there have been increased calls to assure responsible data stewardship. The Joint Commission recognizes it can play an important role in validating that robust policies and procedures are in place to help protect, govern and accountably use secondary data. We believe our Responsible Use of Health Data Certification will help healthcare organizations use data responsibly to improve the safety, quality and equity of care, develop new technologies, and discover new therapies benefitting all patients.”
The Joint Commission has the press release.
