JCAHO Standards for Triage

Hospital accreditation standard (HAS) contains the standards, procedures and process for the hospital environment. Medical Triage of a patient--while maintaining a continuum of care--is the number one goal in the hospital setting. This is the joint commission that sets forth standards and regulates the practices within the The Joint Commission, formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

Before Admission to the Hospital

• At first, the hospital identifies and utilizes all available information sources about the patient's needs. Then, the hospital communicates with the other care settings, if needed.

The Admission Process

• The patients are expect to be treated based on their case history and severity of pain. Not all health care is equal, unfortunately, so The Joint Commission makes sure that its at least fair in patient treatment. Every patient that enters a hospital emergency room/waiting room needs some degree of assistance. Hospitals and clinics have the obligation to be clear in their delivery of service. They have to be upfront, forthright, efficient and very consistent. JCAHO's standard of triage is written in ink, so the only way hospitals wouldn't operate this way is if the charter were changed.

Triage Is Important

• Many years ago, triage was performed in the deserts, woods, on trails, on the streets or wherever the injury took place; there was no choice of going into an emergency room when you got hurt or sick. No matter how severe, your chances of surviving were not great. If there was a town doctor, all the better. However, if there was no one there to triage and treat you, then you were left on your own; more often than not, the injury worsened.

Why JCAHO?

• The doctor is the person who ultimately treats the patient in the hospital. He recognizes that what he has to do affects more than just the patient and the patient's family. What he does also affects the hospital that he works in. So, there must be rules, regulations and procedures that should be applied, in order for the sick and hurt to have proper treatment and the best of care. The Joint Commission is in place for those very reasons.

  In other words, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations makes sure that people who rely on hospital emergency rooms have the best overall experience when it comes to their health care needs.