The JCAH quality initiative: what can hospitals and physicians expect?. Interview by Emily Friedman

In his new position at the JCAH, Ol'Leary has been shaking things up. His most talked-about move has been to initiate a broad-scale reconfiguration of the Joint Commission's approaches to evaluating quality. The principle element of this effort calls for structural and functional indicators to be augmented by clinical performance and outcome criteria. This is the first of two articles concerning Dr. O'Leary's views of the future of the Joint Commission. In this article, he discusses the new quality assurance initiative; in an article in the September-October issue of Physician Executive, his vision of the future of the JCAH, and the environment in which it will be operating, will be explored.