HOSPITALS - Continuing accreditation will depend on terrorism preparedness

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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/319/nation/Hospital_accrediting_group_put:.shtml

Hospital accrediting group puts focus on terrorism preparedness

By Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press, 11/15/2001 20:25

CHICAGO (AP) How well hospitals have prepared for terrorism and mass emergencies will be a key part of the quality-rating process, and those found lacking will risk losing accreditation, hospitals were warned Thursday.

Prompted by the Sept. 11 attacks, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations issued a 24-page advisory emphasizing the need for a new level of preparedness and providing tips on compliance.

Preparation should include names of people to contact at the FBI and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, specific decontamination plans for victims of a mass bioterrorism attack, and identification of alternative treatment sites if the hospital is overrun with patients, the advisory said.

The nonprofit group sent the advisory to the almost 5,000 hospitals and 13,000 clinics, labs and nursing homes nationwide that it monitors and accredits.

Hospitals' readiness for huge disasters varies widely, though most aren't prepared to handle a mass bioterrorism attack with an agent such as anthrax, said the group's president, Dr. Dennis O'Leary.

''We've got a lot more preparation for people to do before anyone should start reassuring people in this country that we're ready,'' O'Leary said.

The advisory outlines emergency management standards issued last January that require hospitals to analyze preparedness and identify vulnerabilities. The standards have been tweaked to include lessons learned from the terrorist attacks.

''They probably didn't have much reality for a lot of hospitals until Sept. 11,'' O'Leary said.

Starting Jan. 1, random, unannounced visits to hospitals by the commission's monitoring staff will include a special focus on emergency preparedness, O'Leary said.

''If their plans are incomplete, they would be cited for deficiency and would be given a certain amount of time to rectify that deficiency,'' he said.

Failure to comply, he said, could ultimately mean loss of accreditation, which is considered the gold standard of quality. It also is a condition for federal and managed-care money that hospitals covet.

''Their setting expectations about terrorism preparedness is really important and it will ... make sure all hospitals are attentive to it,'' said Dr. James Walter, chief of emergency medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals. ''This is another impetus to get this done.''

The group isn't the first to urge better preparedness, and O'Leary said many hospitals already are making needed changes.

Improvements will be expensive for many, and the American Hospital Association is seeking $11.3 billion in federal funding for things like decontamination showers and protective clothing.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001


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