When Hospital Inspectors Are In Town, Fewer Patients Die, Study Says.

WHEN HOSPITAL INSPECTORS ARE IN TOWN, FEWER PATIENTS DIE, STUDY SAYS.

Every couple of years, unannounced visits by inspectors from the Joint Commission trigger a frenzied response in hospitals, in which clinicians are instructed to do everything by the book to avoid potentially embarrassing violations.

Monday a study revealed the impact of that all-hands-on-deck response when the accreditors are in town: significantly fewer patient deaths during inspection week than the weeks before and after the inspectors’ visit. Researchers at Harvard University found the disparity was particularly pronounced at major teaching hospitals, where the heightened response, if applied for an entire year, would translate to 3,600 fewer deaths.

The findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, did not link the lower death rate to adherence to specific best practices or standards. Rather, the researchers said, the improved performance appeared to a result from a more generalized vigilance caused by the arrival of the inspectors.

“The results suggest there are opportunities for quality improvement right under our noses that we take for granted,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Michael L. Barnett, an assistant professor of health care policy management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Some creative thinking around how we react to Joint Commission surveys might lead to quality improvement.”

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