Back by popular demand: The autopsy?

Most hospital policies regard the autopsy as dead since the mid-1970s, when The Joint Commission lifted its requirement that hospitals perform autopsies on 20% of inpatient deaths. Even teaching hospitals have reduced the number they do for training medical students. Rare is the hospital where the autopsy rate is greater than 5% of nonforensic deaths. At most, it's usually only 1%, several pathology experts say. But a few hospitals are trying to keep the autopsy alive, and even revive it as they campaign for physicians and families to allow much wider usage. The autopsy can answer questions about contributing causes of death and thus improve quality of care, they say.

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Source: HealthLeaders Media