title: The sentinel event policy: a response by the Joint Commission.
abstract: In this Comment, Harold Bressler, General Counsel of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations responds to an earlier article, and states that the Commission is fully aware of and concerned with the possible discoverability of hospital incident analyses related to the Commission's Sentinel Event Policy. The Commission believes that precautions can be taken to minimize the possibility that such materials will be found discoverable, but maintains its position that federal legislation is required to ensure the availability of adequate protections.
authors.affiliation: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bressler
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D003219:Confidentiality; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D012308:Risk Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014481:United States