after review of the accredited facility's report on the sentinel event, the joint commission issues an official accreditation decision report that may modify the organization's current accreditation status, assign an appropriate "measure of success", or a require follow-up survey within six months. a healthcare facility that fails to complete a root cause analysis of the sentinel event and action plan within the time frame can be placed on "accreditation watch" by the joint commission, a status that can be publicly disclosed . the joint commission disseminates "sentinel event alerts" identifying specific sentinel events, their underlying causes, and steps to prevent recurrence.