RTLS Powers Joint Commission National Performance Goals

The rising concern regarding the safety of both healthcare professionals and patients is one of the factors that prompted the Joint Commission to shift from its former National Patient Safety Goals^® (NPSGs) to National Performance Goals (NPGs) with a core focus on how hospitals and care facilities track progress and improve outcomes for patient safety and quality care.

What Is the Joint Commission's New Chapter?

The NPGs are not necessarily a group of new requirements but an escalation of existing standards to mandates. Before we discuss this new compliance chapter, let us first look at the organization behind its enforcement.

The Joint Commission is a leading global organization focused on ensuring patient safety and quality healthcare. For over 75 years, it has been upholding high standards through accreditations and certifications. This new chapter is one of the ways they are continuing to set the standard in healthcare. Effective January 1, 2026, the Joint Commission began focusing on 14 goals that go beyond regulatory compliance to target how safety is prioritized in hospitals and critical access hospitals.

These Joint Commission National Performance Goals have become a benchmark for continued accreditation.

NPG #2a: Prioritizing Workplace Violence Prevention

Healthcare workers make up only 10% of the total U.S. workforce, but they experience 48% of non-fatal injuries resulting from workplace violence. This alarming rate of violence against healthcare professionals is what led to serious discussions around safety in hospitals, and the organization released its new and revised standards in 2022, placing them in the 14 Joint Commission NPGs. This elevated, measurable healthcare workplace violence prevention goal pressures healthcare leaders to do more, with an emphasis on greater visibility and accountability for staff safety programs.

The key requirements of NPG #2a include:

A formal workplace violence prevention program
Defined reporting and investigation processes
Annual worksite analysis
Regular staff training
Post-incident support
Data collection and continuous improvement

Real-Time Location Systems Are the Foundation for Compliance

Real-time location systems (RTLS) are changing the way hospitals maintain safety and meet the Joint Commission's workplace violence prevention standards. An RTLS is an innovative technology that provides real-time oversight. By ensuring continuous visibility, this technology is a strategic investment for hospitals seeking to enhance operations and meet regulatory requirements.

Addressing NPG #2a With RTLS

There are several applications of this staff safety technology for healthcare to ensure that your staff remains protected.

Rapid Response and Location Accuracy

When an incident occurs, delays in getting help can increase risk. Without a mobile duress solution, staff may have to shout for assistance or attempt to reach a fixed wall-mounted panic button, which is not always possible as situations escalate. Wearable duress badges and mobile app-based alerts travel with staff wherever they go, enabling them to discreetly summon help before a situation turns violent while providing responders with accurate location information to accelerate assistance. With RTLS technology, your team maintains accurate location awareness throughout the entire duration of the event, even as it may move. CenTrak systems include a wireless call button built into staff badges as well as an iOS and Android mobile application, allowing staff members to summon help without escalating the situation.

Our system will instantly communicate the name and location of the healthcare worker. RTLS improves incident response times, giving staff members confidence that when emergencies arise, help is on the way.

Data-Driven Prevention and Analysis

Workplace violence is widely underreported, leaving healthcare organizations with an incomplete understanding of where and when staff safety risks occur. Many verbal threats, escalating confrontations, and near-miss incidents go undocumented, making it difficult to identify patterns and proactively address risks. RTLS-enabled duress solutions automatically capture duress activations and response data, creating a more comprehensive view of safety events across the hospital. By transforming real-world incidents into actionable insights, organizations can identify high-risk areas, uncover trends, support annual worksite analyses, and drive continuous improvements to workplace safety programs while helping meet reporting and compliance requirements.

Operationalizing Prevention Programs

One of the main demands of the Joint Commission's NPGs is establishing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary workplace violence prevention program. With RTLS, you can create a formal program using advanced tools to maintain real-time visibility. An expert-installed system ensures you have faster response times, location visibility for risk mitigation, and clear incident documentation. RTLS helps you streamline program implementation and demonstrate a commitment to staff safety.

Expanding RTLS Impact Across Other NPGs

Beyond just the #2a goal, RTLS technology extends to other goals documented in the Joint Commission's NPGs:

NPG #1: Right patient, right care: RTLS technology enables hospitals to provide the right care to the right patient at the right time. Location markers ensure that healthcare workers attend to the right patient and provide the appropriate care. They further help to enhance infant protection and patient wander management.
NPG #3: Emergency readiness: You can use this technology to locate critical equipment during emergencies, helping facilities improve preparedness and response.
NPG #5: Preventing and controlling infection: Implementing RTLS can improve a hospital's contact tracing capabilities while also automating hand hygiene compliance monitoring to reduce infection spread.
NPG #11: Creating a secure and safe physical environment: Your RTLS can go beyond the staff duress response to proactively monitor access to restricted areas.

Partnering for a Safer Future

RTLS technology is critical in navigating and excelling under the new Joint Commission NPGs. It enhances safety, improves compliance, and helps to optimize operations. At CenTrak, we have developed leading systems to help make compliance seamless. Our technology is designed to help you create a safer healthcare environment for your staff and patients. Request a demo to see our RTLS in action.