What Is JCAHO?

If you work in healthcare you know what those letters mean.  JCAHO....Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.  It used to go by the letters..JCAH....Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals.  I guess with all the urgent care places and surgical centers and other outpatient facilities they needed to change the name.  What it means doesn't describe what it does.  It strikes fear in the hearts of all who want/need those letters behind their names of their facilities!  You don't want to go to a hospital that hasn't been approved by this organization.  It's really not mandatory for this inspection process, but it should give you peace of mind to know that your facility is a quality one.  The standards are high and some....us....would say they are very anal picky. I found out a few years ago that the headquarters for JCAH was located non other than my hometown. They are right down the street from Mom's house. I made a visit there and blogged about it a few years ago. I had to keep my hands in my pockets so I wouldn't show them how I feel they are "No. 1"..(if you get my drift)

 They visit, unannounced, every 3 years.  We prepare all year for this visit.  We do have a little suspicion of when to expect them.  When they arrive the hospital operator announces very calmly over the PA system...."Samaritan Hospital would like to welcome the Joint Commission."  After all the big bosses change their underwear, they commence with the inspections of whatever the "Joint" wishes to inspect.  Yesterday it was the OR (operating room) department.  Here's an example of how we handle this:

Mary, our boss, was under the impression they were at another of our facilities. I had to inform her that they were actually in the hallway....I never saw her jump out of her chair so fast! (Did I mention underwear changing?) Others saw fit to try and hide:

Becky and Shay were on the lookout from the decontam room...Duck girls!

Look at my BFF Donna (Starkey Hollow)...she's so cool and calm because she has all her eye "stuff" neatly organized...she's says: "Bring 'em on!"  After they roamed all over the place with notebooks and mean faces, a meeting was held to go over the problems they thought they saw.  We were happy to see the final note on our department:

OR did great....yep, we were happy.  The main problems seem to be the Doctors not doing everything that's required in the paperwork part of their jobs...they better watch out because this could be their fate:

Dr. Martin is trying out his job skills in case he can't keep his Anesthesiologist position...um, excuse me Dr. M...I think you missed a spot..just sayin'.