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Hospital watchdog softens its bite

Case Management Weekly, April 12, 2006

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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is facing harsh criticism over its decision to raise the number of deficiencies a hospital may accumulate during an inspection before being punished.

Under the commission's new rules, a large hospital is not downgraded to conditional accreditation (similar to probation) unless it has violated 14 standards, up from 10. It can't be recommended to lose its accreditation unless it has violated 20 standards, up from 15. A small hospital must violate 11 instead of 10 standards for probation and 16 instead of 15 standards to lose accreditation.

The JCAHO defended its decision by stating that it would prefer to assist hospitals in remedying problems instead of stripping more facilities of accreditation, according to The Los Angeles Times. Last year, 14 hospitals were recommended to lose accreditation, compared with nine in 2004, and one in 2003.

Critics argue that the new rules make it appear as though the JCAHO is more eager to please hospitals than protect patients.

Source: California Healthline; The Los Angeles Times

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