Hospital library resources in Massachusetts: data collection and analysis

Area of Science:

• Medical Librarianship
• Healthcare Administration
• Information Science

Background:

• Assessing hospital medical information resources is crucial for quality patient care and research.
• Existing standards, like those from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) and Canadian Standards for Hospital Libraries, provide benchmarks for evaluation.
• Massachusetts has a significant number of acute care facilities, making it a relevant study area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish baseline statistics for hospital medical information resources in Massachusetts.
• To evaluate hospital library resources and services against established accreditation standards (JCAH and Canadian).
• To identify specific areas of deficiency within hospital library systems.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted across hospitals in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• Data collected were analyzed for compliance with revised JCAH standards and proposed Canadian Standards for Hospital Libraries.
• Resources and services were quantified and compared against both quantitative and nonquantitative criteria.

Main Results:

• 67.6% of surveyed hospitals met either the revised JCAH or the Canadian library standards.
• A significant number of deficiencies were identified, particularly in hospitals with 100 to 299 beds.
• These deficiencies were evident when evaluated against both quantitative and nonquantitative standards.

Conclusions:

• While a majority of hospitals met some standards, specific size-based institutions require attention.
• Hospitals in the 100-299 bed range present a notable area for improvement regarding medical information resources.
• Further research is recommended to address identified gaps and enhance hospital library services.