Quick Summary: If a patient suffers harm where an accredited healthcare facility deviates from the standards of its accrediting body, the patient can use that deviation as proof of negligence in a lawsuit against the facility.
(Editor's Note: This ruling is a minority view that is not shared by courts in other jurisdictions.)
The issue was whether a hospital can be sued for granting clinical privileges to a physician without considering the physician’s board status.
The court said JCAHO accreditation standards do not require a physician to be board certified in order to get clinical privileges, but JCAHO does require the hospital to consider the physician’s board status, which this hospital apparently did not do, before it can grant clinical privileges.
The Court of Appeals of North Carolina relied upon a principle that has very broad implications, in deciding this case. Carter v. Hucks-Folliss, 505 S.E. 2d 177 (N.C. App., 1998).