About JCAHO Protocol

The Universal Protocol of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations sets standards designed to eliminate preventable surgical errors. These JCAHO mandates apply to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and offices that do surgical procedures.

Background

• Preventable medical errors are the sixth leading cause of death in America. Proposed in 1993 and implemented in 1994, the JCAHO mandates improved many of the procedures associated with adverse surgical events. However, some constituent organizations requested greater flexibility. Consequently, in 2009, JCAHO updated its requirements to make some guidelines more general.

Scope of the Protocol

• The corrected problems affect all surgical specialties and anatomical sites. The protocol seeks to eliminate surgeries that involve wrong-site, wrong-procedure and wrong-patient errors by establishing safety standards. Hospitals save lives and avoid lawsuits by utilizing simple procedures such as marking the site of a surgery.

Prinicipal Components

• The Joint Commission organized the protocol into three principal components. First, staff conduct a verification process before the procedure begins. Next, medical personnel mark the procedure site. Finally, before the surgery, the patient and his operating team take a time-out.