The Joint Commission announced an update of its “observer” definition in its accreditation and certification manuals. The new definition is meant to clarify the roles of surveyors and reviewer management staff during on-site surveys and reviews.

The new definition can be found under Accreditation Participation Requirement APR.07.01.01 and Certification Participation Requirement (CPR) 10, and goes into effect on July 1, 2017.

According to the new definition, observers will only participate in the survey/review process if they notice a potential finding or observation that they think the surveyor, reviewer, or organization needs to know about. Field directors are not included in this new definition and are still allowed to take part in the survey process.