Looking to Improve Your JCAHO Score? Here’s 3 Easy Steps
By Blakely Roth | July 10, 2025
For specialty healthcare practices, hospitals and health systems, accreditation from The Joint Commission (JCAHO) represents more than a badge of quality. It’s a powerful indicator of a commitment to safety, compliance and patient-centered care. Whether you’re preparing for an upcoming site visit or aiming to maintain your status, aligning with Joint Commission standards is crucial.
Here’s how your practice can rise to the challenge and how Clearwave can help you get there.
What Is the Joint Commission and Why Does It Matter?
The Joint Commission is a non-profit organization that accredits and certifies healthcare organizations across the U.S. While accreditation is optional, it’s often required by hospitals, insurers and state regulations for specific programs, like Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement. It is a widely recognized symbol of a healthcare organization’s dedication to quality and continuous improvement.
Surveys are conducted, often unannounced, by trained healthcare professionals who assess compliance with rigorous performance standards. The outcome may lead to full accreditation, follow-up visits or denial if improvements are needed.
The Joint Commission accreditation can help practices:
- Build credibility and trust with patients and partners
- Improve internal operations via evidence-based compliance
- Qualify for participation in insurance networks, including Medicare and Medicaid
- Reduce liability and risk
- Stand out in a competitive market
As the Chief Innovation Officer of the Joint Commission states, “Healthcare is on the brink of a new era in data collection, reporting and use. The Joint Commission Certification will help healthcare organizations use data responsibly to improve the safety, quality and equity of care.”
What We’re Hearing from Clearwave Clients
Many of our clients participate in JCAHO surveys and certifications, and they’re impressing surveyors in real time. One practice manager recently how that a JCAHO representative used the Clearwave kiosk upon their recent survey visit and inquired more about the Clearwave dashboard and staff-facing processes as well. After witnessing Clearwave Registration in action, the JCAHO representative was very complimentary.
Another customer with a recent JCAHO visit mentioned that their representative specifically noted that Clearwave’s data collection and reporting capabilities were a key factor in why their organization performed so well in their survey.
With these high-performing results in mind, see how your healthcare organization can drive similar success.
3 Ways to Improve Your Joint Commission Score
From cleaner data to improved accessibility to care and of course happier patients—see the three ways you can improve your Joint Commission rating!
1. Improve Data Capture and Accuracy
Data is the foundation of healthcare decision-making, and the Joint Commission knows it. Practices must show that they responsibly collect, manage and use patient data to drive better outcomes and improve compliance. From demographics to consent forms, license/insurance card images and medical histories, practices must ensure their data is both up-to-date and handled appropriately.
Forward-thinking practices are using Clearwave to empower staff and patients to ensure data integrity by:
- Increasing data collection, by helping patients review and update their data in a way that’s both accurate and efficient
- Offering digital check-in workflows that require patients to verify and update their info before proceeding to the next intake step
- Improving data management, by reducing manual entry and providing a dashboard to help staff stay on top of insurance and administrative tasks
- Ensuring responsible use of data, with HIPPA-compliant tools
- Securing seamless integrations, with Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Practice Management Systems (PM systems)
What clients are saying:
Utah Cancer Specialists see average check-in times of just over 90 seconds. Their Director of Administrative Services says, “During pre-check or at the kiosk, patients must answer the questions to go to the next screen. If their insurance expires, the system will prompt patients to update their information, and it will notify our staff. It’s astounding how accurate our data is now.”
While the Site Director at East Jordan Family Health Center (EJFHC) says, “Staff have been very receptive to the dashboard. It gives them a quick snapshot of everything that needs to happen prior to patient appointments. They have tasks that alert them to request other forms from patients, and it’s helped us stay efficient.”
2. Enhance Patient Access and Communications
The Joint Commission is committed to improving patient access to quality care, and Clearwave helps practices meet that expectation with:
- 24/7 Self-scheduling, to help new and existing patients quickly book appointments with their providers, providing the access today’s consumers demand while improving operational efficiency for staff
- ADA-compliant kiosks, designed with large screens and easy-to-navigate interfaces, which provide ease of use for patients of all demographics
- Multiple language options, across check-in, scheduling and communications, which reduces language complexities and other barriers to care for patients
- Omnichannel outreach, via email, text and voice, which increases the chances of patients getting critical care-related messages like appointment reminders and recalls
What clients are saying:
Clearwave Scheduling has demonstrated industry-leading adoption rates across all patient demographics. Lauren Lawson, Director of Marketing at Center for Sports Medicine & Orthopedics, notes, “It’s not just young people — there’s a significant number of older patients who absolutely prefer to schedule online. We’re going to continue seeing growth and increased demand for booking access outside of normal business hours.”
East Side Endoscopy sees 100% patient adoption of kiosks. Their Practice Administrator shares, “The combination of the Clearwave Kiosk and tablet has resulted in greater patient satisfaction, on-time procedures and low wait times while increasing accuracy of data, and we have been able to keep the same level of staff while still growing.”
3. Elevate the Patient Experience
Patient satisfaction is a major focus area for The Joint Commission, and today patient satisfaction and care extend outside of the exam room. Clearwave helps practices put patients in control of their healthcare journey while simultaneously enhancing staff workloads.
When patients are in pain or anxious, the ability to speed up time-to-care makes a measurable difference, while also making a positive impression on JCAHO surveyors.
Clearwave helps practices accomplish this feat by:
- Speeding up check-in, offering patient-led registration that drops wait times by 90%, getting patients in pain to their provider faster
- Providing modern experiences, with the tools patients expect healthcare leaders to offer, like digital scheduling, personalized communications, cost estimates and self-registration
- Offering pre-registration and clinical intake, available before visits to further speed up in-person check-in and improve data ownership
What clients are saying:
Metrolina Eye Associates CEO, Nick Tavares, says, “We decided to move forward with Clearwave kiosks, and I’ll tell you what, I would never turn back. It has saved so much time on the front desk staff. They now have the time to answer phones, greet patients and make them feel welcomed. That patient experience is key for us.”
Learn more about patient perception of kiosks and its impact on modern medical practices. See why Clearwave was recently named a leader in the industry.
EJFHC Sees Happier Patients and Cleaner Data
See success in action at EJFHC. With 12 providers seeing 3,000 patients per month, EJFHC sought a solution to enhance data collection, streamline intake and improve financial transparency. Implementing Clearwave’s Patient-Led Registration kiosks proved to be a game-changer.
Real World Results:
- 1 minute 39 second average check-in time
- 82% co-pay collection rate
- 80% patient adoption of kiosks
- 3,016 automated monthly patient data updates
Ready to Improve Your Joint Commission Readiness?
Clearwave helps practices elevate the patient experience, maintain accurate data and improve operational efficiency—everything the Joint Commission values in their regular surveys. Whether you’re preparing for your next accreditation cycle or want to adopt best practices now, our solutions can help you meet the mark.
See how Clearwave can support your path to accreditation!