Lessons Learned In the Fallout of Virginia Mason’s Accreditation Struggles

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A preliminary denial offers a stark reminder that even top-rated hospitals are not ­immune to survey deficiencies

There are two words hospital officials do not want to hear during a Joint Commission survey: “immediate threat.”

Yet that was the harsh reality facing officials several months ago at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, a healthcare facility that has been widely recognized throughout the last decade as a leader in patient safety and quality improvement. During a survey in May, the hospital was issued a “preliminary denial of accreditation” after surveyors discovered a performance issue that posed “a threat to patients or other individuals served.”

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Editor’s Note: Beginning this month, Patient Safety Monitor Journal (PSMJ) is publishing its articles on a weekly basis. Each week in Patient Safety & Quality Insider, a new article from that month’s issue of PSMJ will be featured with a link to the article for subscribers to access. At the end of the month, a separate email will be sent to PSMJ subscribers with links to all the stories and the PDF of the full issue. This is the first article from the October issue of PSMJ.