OIG’s report on JCAHO likely to stir Congress
July 26, 1999
OIG’s report on JCAHO likely to stir Congress
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) damning assessment of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and state agencies may not send shock waves across Capitol Hill. But tremors are likely, say congressional sources.
Leading the charge will be Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. Last month, Stark introduced legislation aimed at reducing conflicts of interest in accrediting agencies that review quality standards for Medicare-participating hospitals.
There is often "a serious conflict of interest" between the mission of accrediting agencies and their internal governance because the majority of members on governing boards are often "representatives of the very industries that the agency accredits," argues Stark.
Stark’s bill — the Improvement of Medicare Accrediting Entity Act of 1999 — would require that a simple majority of the accrediting agency’s governing board consist of persons approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and without a financial interest in the agency or the facilities that it accredits. The bill also stipulates that meetings of the governing board be open to the public.
"Stark is going to agitate on this given the OIG reports because there are some very troubling aspects in there," says a senior aide to Stark. "Not only do the surveyors tell hospitals they are coming ahead of time, but they tell them what files they are going to ask for."
The aide predicts that if Congress passes substantive Medicare legislation this year, the chances are strong that some of the OIG’s concerns will be addressed in that bill.
It will be an uphill fight, the aide adds, but the OIG’s report improves its chances. "It is a very strong set of reports and whether it is administrative action or hearings to jawbone’ the issue or an amendment in a bill is not clear; but I think there will be some congressional action," concludes the aide.
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