New Joint Commission president discusses treatment overuse, strengthening defenses

Abstract

As various groups examine the challenges facing hospitals across the country, there is one category the new head of the Joint Commission says has been largely ignored—overuse of treatment. Mark Chassin, who took over as president of the Joint Commission in January, said health care providers should consider the problem of treatment and drug overuse as seriously as treatment misuse and underuse. Some patient safety advocates tend to focus on miscues, such as when the wrong drug is used or a surgery is botched. Other observers focus on instances where a known treatment was not selected when it almost certainly would have helped a patient, he said. “What is completely missing from these two major movements in quality is any serious attempt to measure, to improve upon overuse,” he said April 7 at a meeting of the American Hospital Association in Washington, D.C. “It’s a very important omission.” Antibiotics represent one example of treatment overuse that can have negative consequences. Many patients suffering from colds visit their health care providers and walk away with a prescription for antibiotics, Chassin said.