Accreditation

JCAHO increases focus on wrong site surgery

Accreditation Connection, December 3, 2003

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), in partnership with over 40 medical, nursing, and other healthcare organizations, launched a nationwide program to eliminate wrong site, wrong procedure, and wrong patient surgeries.

The focus of the program is "Universal Protocol"--a process that attempts to standardize procedures for verifying the correct patient, procedure, and surgical site. The protocol goes into effect on July 1, 2004, for all JCAHO-accredited hospitals, ambulatory care surgery centers, and office-based surgery sites.

Most Popular

Related Articles