JCAHO's Management of Information Standards

With the publication of the 1994 Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Standards, the importance of information management in the clinical setting has been elevated. At the same time, the standards raise an urgent question: Who is best qualified to assist the industry in implementing the information systems necessary for compliance with the new standards? This article describes the authors' investigation into the qualifications of two groups—nonclinical systems analysts and informatics nurse specialists—in an attempt to answer that question.