JCAHO overdue for reform?

In a strongly-worded editorial, Neil McLaughlin of Modern Healthcare criticizes the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for accrediting hospitals that he sees as sub-par. For years, McLaughlin writes, the JCAHO has played a dangerous game with hospitals, threatening sanctions and then allowing transgressors to get off scott-free. In the process, executives at the organization have "enriched themselves." It's time for the nonsense to stop. "Patients need a police force to protect them, but the commission is off-duty. Hospitals that could pass for butcher shops have been accredited year after year." McLaughlin claims that the exit of JCAHO head Dennis O'Leary presents an opportunity to restructure the accreditor and protect patients.

- see this article from Modern Healthcare

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