profession
Accreditation standards for academic medical centers revised
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 30, 2012
The Oak Brook, Ill.-based commission responsible for accrediting hospitals in more than 90 countries has revised its standards to recognize the unique contributions of academic medical centers. Joint Commission International, the international arm of the Joint Commission, announced the changes July 19. They take effect Jan. 1, 2013 (link).
The standards incorporate medical education and human subject research into accreditation evaluations. For example, officials visiting an academic medical center will consider the contributions of medical trainees and the integration of research protocols into clinical care. Such activities often are unnoticed in quality monitoring and improvement, said Paul vanOstenberg, a Joint Commission International vice president.
Hospitals evaluated under the revised standards must be integrated with a medical school, educate medical students and residents from that school, and conduct human subject research.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/07/30/prbf0730.htm.
