Voluntary accreditation of hospital laboratories: a new approach by JCAH

Since January 1979, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals has accepted the CAP Inspection and Accreditation Program as evidence of compliance with the newly revised JCAH standard for Pathology and Medical Laboratory Services. In this article, the authors recall the events that led up to the Joint Commission's acceptance of CAP accreditation, and they explain how an inspection conducted by the CAP differs from that conducted by the JCAH.