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Bulletin of the Medical Library Association logoLink to Bulletin of the Medical Library Association
. 1980 Apr;68(2):212–219.

JCAH accreditation and the hospital library: a guide for librarians.

J M Topper, J Bradley, R F Dudden, B A Epstein, J A Lambremont, T R Putney Jr
PMCID: PMC226478  PMID: 6928793

Abstract

The continuing effort to develop standards for libraries in health care institutions has resulted in the creation of two broad groups of standards: (1) quantitative and specific, and (2) qualitative and flexible. The library standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH), a major example of the second type, were revised and expanded considerably in 1978, bringing them into line with standards for other hospital departments. Possible areas of unclarity or difficulty for the librarian in complying with the revised JCAH standards are discussed, including those relating to staffing, consultants, library technicians, analysis of resources, assessment of needs, documentation, policies and procedures manuals, and the library committee. The JCAH site visit, including preparation of the Hospital Survey Profile, gathering information for the surveyor, and the summary conference, offers opportunities to librarians to participate in an institution-wide effort, to upgrade management practices, and to demonstrate the need for, and effectiveness of, library services in their hospitals.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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