Alternative to JACHO?

From Medlaw.com:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun formal evaluation of the just-completed application by TÜV Healthcare Specialists (TÜVHS) to become the first new accreditation service for U.S. hospitals in 40 years.

If granted full deeming authority in the coming months, TÜVHS will not only accredit hospitals (deem them in compliance with Medicare’s Conditions of Participation) but will introduce the breakthrough management disciplines of ISO 9001 to help reverse declining quality indicators in healthcare.

Each year quality lapses in healthcare delivery exact a staggering financial and human toll. Inefficiency and mistakes cost each American $1,200 to $2,500 every year1; and prescription errors – a preventable lapse in quality control – cause 25,000 deaths annually.2

Responsibility for accrediting hospitals was first conveyed to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in 1965. The Joint Commission, a private non-profit organization, today accredits the overwhelming majority of hospitals in the United States.