Special report. Complying with the 1995 JCAHO security and safety standards: Part I

Leading consultants agree that complying with 1995 inspections by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations will amount to the difference between an oral and a written exam: inspectors are expected to place more emphasis on quizzing all kinds of hospital employees about safety and security issues, and less on reviewing security paperwork and documents. The consensus is that hospitals that have been in compliance shouldn't have any worries about meeting the new standards, although there is some disagreement about the extent to which they will have to adapt. Initiated to set standards for patient care, JCAHO has been placing increasing emphasis lately on safety and security. The latest refinements are reflected in its 1995 Comprehensive Accreditation Manual. Terminology has been changed, security and safety standards added, and the responsibility for security has been spread throughout the organization rather than placed just on the shoulders of the security and safety departments. In Part I of this report, we'll present the viewpoints of consultants who have been heavily involved in assisting hospitals to successfully comply with the latest standards, as well as the experiences of one security director. Next month, in Part II, we'll present the latest viewpoints of JCAHO, plus the experiences of other security directors from around the country in meeting the current JCAHO challenge.