JCAHO surveyors jeopardize patient safety, GAO reports
Compliance Monitor, July 28, 2004
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Surveyors from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) failed to identify critical patient safety hazards at hospitals and, as a result, federal officials say CMS should have more accountability to oversee the issue, according to a scathing report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) July 20.
The GAO reviewed 500 hospitals that were surveyed by the JCAHO and by state surveyors who validate JCAHO surveys. It found that JCAHO surveyors failed to identify patient safety deficiencies 31% of the time, or 157 hospitals.
At least one of the deficiencies that JCAHO surveyors missed is a National Patient Safety Goal required by the JCAHO.
According to the GAO, JCAHO surveyors failed to detect a number of hospital weaknesses, including the following:
To read the report, click here.
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