Cheryl Pistone, RN, MA, MBA

Ms. Pistone has over 43 years’ experience in nursing, including four years as a Lieutenant in the Nurse Corp for the U.S. Navy.

Ms. Pistone is currently the Clinical Director, Accreditation Services at AAAHC. Her job duties consists of oversight of the Complaint Management and Adverse Event Reporting process as well as contribution to standards and report reiews at AAAHC. Prior to that she was Director of Clinical Services for Consultants in Gastroenterology and Kansas City Internal Medicine in which she managed clinical staff over multiple sites.  Early in her career she worked as a nurse manager and critical care nurse in a large teaching hospital.Ms. Pistone received her BSN degree from the University of Tulsa, and her masters’ degrees Webster University. She has been a surveyor for AAAHC since 2009.

Tiffany Wiksten, DNP, RN, CIC

Tiffany Wiksten, DNP, RN, CIC, is currently an Associate Director in the Standards Interpretation Group in the Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation and Improvement at The Joint Commission and is an Infection Control Subject Matter Expert. In this role, Dr. Wiksten is responsible for working closely with accredited and certified organizations to interpret The Joint Commission standards, identify vulnerabilities, and improve their performance. She also responds to inquiries from accredited organizations and the public related to compliance with Joint Commission standards. Dr. Wiksten reviews post-survey reports, clarifications, measures of success, and evidence of standards compliance submitted as part of the survey process. She provides leadership and guidance within the team in all aspects of the accreditation process through clinical expertise in infection prevention and control. She also supports customer relationship management and the field representative cadre as well as other customers through the provision of expert interpretation, guidance, and collaboration.

Dr. Wiksten has worked as an Infection Preventionist for over 10 years. Prior to joining The Joint Commission, she was the Manager of Infection Prevention at a major metropolitan medical center. She has led infection prevention programs and efforts in a variety of health care settings, including large academic medical centers, community hospitals and ambulatory settings. She has supported ambulatory dental settings during and after survey as well as ambulatory surveyors who survey ambulatory dental services. She provides interpretation of The Joint Commission Infection Control standards, including application in dental settings, and assists with the evaluation of Infection Control risks that are identified during surveys in ambulatory dental settings. 

Dr. Wiksten received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois, and a Master of Science in Nursing from Loyola University Chicago, Illinois, with a focus in Population-based Infection Control and Environmental Safety. She received a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, with a focus in Transformational Leadership. She holds a green belt in Lean Six Sigma and is Certified in Infection Control (CIC).