Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)

Management

Safety goals for hospitals: (2009)

• improve the accuracy of patient identification
• improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers
• improve the safety of using medications
• reduce the risk of health-care associated infections
• accurately & completely reconcile medications across the continuum of care
• reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls
• encourage patients' active involvement in their own care as a patient safety strategy
• identify safety risks inherent in the organization's patient population
• improve recognition & response to changes in a patient's condition
• universal protocol: conducting a pre-procedure verification process, marking the procedure site, performing a 'time out'

More general terms

• medical organizational structure