Compliance Assessment in Health Care: The JCAHO Accreditation Model

The accreditation process of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations serves as the principal proxy for assessment of hospital compliance with federal and state health care quality-related requirements.  The process holds the organization accountable for itself, its employees, and the independent practitioners (primarily physicians) who provide care to patients therein.  While based on federal requirements, the accreditation process requires hospitals and other health care organizations to meet a higher standard -- state-of-the-art "optimum achieveable" standards developed through consensus by experts and a wide range of other parties at interest.  Triennial on-site reviews of organizations seeking accreditation or re-accreditation address all standards requirements, and focus on potential problem areas identified through pre-review analysis of performance information gathered from a variety of sources.  Beginning in 2006, the on-site reviews will become unannounced and will take place on a less predictable basis.