Gynecomastia Surgery in a Very, Very Safe Place
Nurse Ratched’s blog has a funny scenario in which a hospital “swat team” intercepts JCAHO inspectors who arrive – totally unannounced — at the hospital doors.
But seriously, folks…….
JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) is a good thing.
As you may know by now, New York State requires any invasive surgery to be performed in an accredited facility.
JCAHO not only inspects the largest health care organizations, they also bring their close-eyed scrutiny to smaller operating rooms like the one in my Park Avenue office.
JCAHO, which now prefers to be known as simply The Joint Commission, is very good at it, too. They’ve been inspecting operating rooms since 1951 and know in which closets the skeletons are most often contained.
There are about four or five such certifying and inspection bodies but The Joint Commission is the most strict and thorough. In medicine, we use the term, gold standard, to indicate the very best.
JCAHO covers all the bases so it’s awarded that golden appellation.
But what does this mean to you, the patient?
The world of medicine and cosmetic plastic surgery — like male breast reduction — are full of “what ifs?”
As in……what if the electricity was cut off in the middle of an operation?
Well, a JCHO accredited surgery center is required to have a backup generator in case of a blackout.
And fire?
Required of the plastic surgeon and everybody else who works in the O.R.: a fire drill every six months.
Last time I counted, JACHO inspects 150 at random, unannounced times.
Even the O.R. ‘fridge is inspected. That’s because that refrigerator usually contains “biologicals” like serums, patient tissue samples and other substances that must be chilled.
So the ‘fridge must have a gizmo that shows if the electricity has gone off at any time.
The other surgical equipment – like lasers and liposuction machines – must hold tags showing when and by whom maintenance was done.
One of the most recent requirements guards against medical personnel reacting to having your basic bad day.
Because verbal outbreaks, harsh remarks and other similar behaviors can cause health workers to take eyes off the ball, all JCAHO certified operating rooms are required to establish a code of conduct defining acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. And that includes teasing others!
I’m sure one other such unacceptable behavior would be forming a swat team to intercept inspectors before they reached the O.R.!