Brookhaven Retreat has successfully received its second accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

Brookhaven Retreat participated in the process of becoming an accredited organization through the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for the second time. As a result of the survey, there were no requirements for improvement identified. Accreditation became effective April 7th, 2012 and is valid for up to 36 months. To be accredited, Brookhaven Retreat first had to volunteer to undergo the challenging process. Behavioral Health Care Accreditation is very valuable to Brookhaven Retreat because it ensures that the organization is in compliance with state regulations or licensure requirements. Furthermore, it provides a working system that provides structure for the organizations to help handle risk and to increase the quality of care, treatment, and services.

Accreditation is nationally recognized to be the Gold Standard in health care. The JCAHO gold seal of approval is earned and maintained by having a comprehensive survey by the Joint Commission once every three years. During the challenging survey, Brookhaven Retreat had to meet JCAHO performance standards, safety, and quality.

What are the benefits?

• Improves risk management and risk education
• Strengthens community confidence in the quality and safety of care, treatment, and service
• Competitive edge in the marketplace
• Provides education on good practices to improve business operations
• Provides professional advice and counsel, enhancing staff education
• Increases staff recruitment and development
• Recognized by select insurers and other third parties

What happens during the survey?

The JCAHO surveyor interviews the staff, tours the facility, observes how the facility is run, and looks over documentation that they select. All of this is done so they can understand how the organization is compliant with the JCAHO standards. These standards are what addresses the organization's level of performance and are based on maximum achievable expectations, and set forth performance expectations for activities that affect the quality of resident care.

Distinguished clinical treatment expert Scott Migdole will make a presentation to the Brookhaven Retreat staff on May 31 as a part of our ongoing staff development activities.

“Treatment Planning and Documentation: Translating Regulatory Requirements Into Clinical Practice” Treatment planning is an essential component to effective, evidence-based care. However, while treatment plans are fundamentally important, clinicians throughout the country struggle to develop ones that are person-centered, effective, practical and meet the various regulatory requirements. This presentation will offer a hands-on approach to tackling these challenging issues conceptualized within the stages of change. The presentation is highly interactive and participants are strongly encouraged to bring “real-life” examples for discussion.

Scott Migdole, LCSW, ACSW

Mr. Migdole is the Chief Operating Officer of Yale Behavioral Health and the Yale Program on Supervision. He is also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. His responsibilities include management of juvenile justice mental health services for pre-adjudicated youth, crisis services, vocational programming for persons with severe mental illness, and outpatient mental health and substance abuse services. Mr. Migdole was the lead trainer and organizational consultant in a statewide Supervision Competency Development Initiative that was federally funded through Connecticut’s Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant (T-SIG). He has consulted on supervision to numerous Connecticut state agencies including the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Corrections, Department of Children and Families, Connecticut Valley Hospital, as well as the District of Columbia’s Department of Mental Health. He lectures nationally on the topic of supervision and has authored numerous articles on topics that include supervision, peer support, and juvenile justice mental health. He also consults nationally on Medicaid and recently served as a contributing editor for “Compliance Watch,” a quarterly newsletter published through the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.