Accreditation

JCAHO takes action to promote adverse event reporting

Accreditation Connection, February 14, 2005

The JCAHO on February 10 announced a call to action for medical liability reform, saying a system redesign could lead to increased reporting of adverse events and better education about preventing them.

JCAHO President Dennis O'Leary led a teleconference to announce the call to action and introduce a new public policy white paper on the subject--both of which are available on the accreditor's Web site.

The report lists 19 recommendations and accountabilities. The JCAHO says it intends to see that the report's recommendations are met, but offered no timeline.

Click here to learn more about the call to action, the teleconference, and the white paper.

A group of 29 people representing various medical liability interests helped develop the JCAHO's report,  Health Care at the Crossroads: Strategies for Improving the Medical Liability System and Preventing Patient Injury, according to a JCAHO press release.

The report lists 19 recommendations and accountabilities. The JCAHO says it intends to see that the report's recommendations are met, but offered no timeline.

"The ultimate goal is to make healthcare as safe as it can be, while also assuring appropriate redress for patients when this is warranted," JCAHO president Dennis O'Leary, M.D., said in the release. "The medical liability system in place today simply falls short of this goal."

The group identified three strategies for achieving its goal:

1. Actively pursue patient safety initiatives that prevent medical injury.

2. Promote open communication between patients and practitioners. 

3. Create a patient-centered injury compensation system.

To read the complete report, visit http://www.jcaho.org/about+us/public+policy+initiatives/tort_resolution.htm

To hear a replay of the teleconference, call 888/562-3375. Joining O'Leary on the call were Eric B. Larson, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., director, Center for Health Studies Group Health Cooperative; Randall R. Bovbjerg, J.D., principal research associate, Health Policy Center, The Urban Institute; Susan Sheridan, M.I.M., M.B.A., co-founder, Consumers Advancing Patient Safety; Alan C. Woodward, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., president, Massachusetts Medical Society; and Philip K. Howard, chair, Common Good and vice chairman, Covington & Burling

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