title: Strategic opportunities in the oversight of the U.S. hospital accreditation system.
abstract: Hospital accreditation and state certification are the means that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) employs to meet quality of care requirements for medical care reimbursement. Hospitals can choose to use either a national accrediting agency or a state certification inspection in order to receive Medicare payments. Approximately, 80% of hospitals choose the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss improvements on the structure of the accreditation process in a Principal-Agent-Supervisor framework with a special emphasis on the oversight by the principal (CMS) of the supervisor (JCAHO).
authors.affiliation: Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 152, Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies, Baylor College of Medicine, 2002 Holcombe Boulevard, TX 77030, USA. mauricem@bcm.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Maurice L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Moffett
authors.forename: Robert O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Carol M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ashton
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D033161:Government Regulation; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards*; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D014481:United States