Implementing meaningful CME as an essential component in a community hospital quality assurance plan

The pursuit of high-quality patient care within a community hospital highlights the tenuous relationship between the hospital board and administration on one side and the voluntary medical staff on the other. Craddick describes the need to monitor and improve patient management, the commitment of physicians and administrators to high quality care, and the unfortunate failure of most hospital programs to go beyond paper exercises designed to satisfy the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH). The American College of Surgeons summarizes current methods of monitoring the quality of patient care, and gives four examples of successful programs. The JCAH Manual sets standards for hospitals and medical staffs to achieve. However, thus far no one has described how a hospital's medical staff, board, and administration join forces to implement a comprehensive quality assurance program. This paper presents the experience of one community hospital in dealing with this problem over a two-year period.