PSRO and the Hospital's Quality Control

The earliest function of the Professional Standards Review Organization (PSRO) will be to conduct or supervise, for federally financed patients in short-term hospitals, concurrent certifications and reviews and medical care evaluation studies. Case and statutory law, as well as PL 92-603, make the hospital itself responsible for the quality of its care, and the PSRO must accept those of the hospital's review services that are of satisfactory quality. The workable hospital quality control system described relies on comprehensive statistical monitoring of both outcome and process of care to [1] provide reasonable surveillance of the care of all patients, and [2] establish priorities for in-depth investigations and concurrent review. Monitor-triggered medical care evaluation studies include deficiency analysis, prescribe corrective action and follow-up, and provide documentation. A PSRO need not duplicate these studies, done as a normal hospital function. Concurrent certification and review will have to be worked out between the PSRO and hospital.