If you want to see a real-world example of what teaching-to-the-test involves, look no further than Texas Health Resources and CDC. Although the standards for hospital infection protection has been described as voluntary, there is a private regulatory scheme. The Joint Commission has a set of standards that are deemed to satisfy the requirements for eligibility to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. In effect, a hospital that wants to be paid for its Medicare or Medicaid work needs to satisfy the Joint Commission standards. As an interested observer, you could not look up those standards. The standards are owned by the Joint Commission and it sells them for a hefty fee. There is an industry in this country that teaches hospitals what they have to do in order to get a passing grade on the Joint Commissions test. Theres no advantage in doing great on the test; passing is enough. Does it surprise you, therefore, that hospitals will cut corners as long as it doesnt give them a failing grade? This is the devolution of regulatory authority to private industry. Private industry owns the language of the law, owns the process of establishing compliance, but has no stake in the outcome.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 12:54:38 +0000
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