JCAHO releases 2007 draft standards

A new set of draft credentialing and privileging standards from the JCAHO would require hospitals in 2007 to establish evidence-based, consistent processes for determining healthcare practitioners' competence and providing high quality patient care.

In 2003, a Joint Commission task force composed of credentialing and privileging experts concluded that the existing processes are ineffective, particularly in the areas of

·        continuous performance review

·        identifying substandard performance

·        providing intervention when substandard performance is found.

As a result of these findings, four new concepts have been included in the draft standards and aim to transform the credentialing and privileging processes from subjective exercises to ones that are more objective and evidence-based. The concepts include performance monitoring, proctoring, simulation, and continuous clinical practice evaluation. Go to www.jcaho.org for more information.