PHRP Accreditation Program Awards Second Decision; Hartford Hospital Becomes the First Hospital to Earn PHRP Accreditation 4/26/2004
From: Charlene D. Hill of Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 630-792-5175; or Brian Schilling of the National Committee for Quality Assurance, 202-955-5104 OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill., April 26 -- Hartford Hospital recently became the first hospital in the nation to receive Partnership for Human Research Protection, Inc. (PHRP) accreditation for its human research protection program. PHRP is a collaboration between the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Hartford Hospital, located in Hartford, Connecticut, demonstrated its commitment to safeguarding the interests of human research participants by achieving PHRP accreditation. To earn accreditation, Hartford Hospital completed a thorough review against PHRP standards and an on-site accreditation review took place shortly thereafter. During the on-site review, a team of PHRP surveyors-research clinicians and others experienced in biomedical research-validated performance against the national standards. "We commend Hartford Hospital for becoming one of the first organizations to earn PHRP accreditation and for its commitment to protecting the safety and rights of research participants," said PHRP Chief Executive Officer Esther Emard. "We look forward to seeing other organizations follow its lead." "We are extremely proud to be the first hospital to achieve PHRP accreditation. We believe that this milestone reflects Hartford Hospital's commitment to excellence in research," said Laura Caramanica, Ph.D., R.N., vice president of nursing, Hartford Hospital. PHRP launched its accreditation program in 2003 to provide a national set of standards and a voluntary oversight process that creates a credible, objective framework for ensuring that processes are in place to inform and protect the thousands of volunteer human subjects who participate in clinical trials and other research activities every year. The rapid expansion of medical research, drug trials and other studies involving human subjects has increased demand to ensure that studies' risks and benefits are thoroughly weighed, that volunteers are properly informed, that adverse events are carefully monitored, and that research risks are minimized. Both the federal Office of Human Research Protections and the Food and Drug Administration have supported private accreditation -- such as the new PHRP Accreditation Program -- as a critical component of an overall national strategy to better protect human research participants and promote greater accountability. Hartford Hospital is one of the largest medical centers in New England and the flagship operation in Connecticut's largest health care system. The hospital is a private, not-for-profit acute care organization and also a teaching facility, with clinical centers in the specialty areas of cancer, cardiology, mental health, trauma and women's health care. The Patient Advocacy Council Inc. (PAC) in Mobile, Alabama became the first organization to receive PHRP accreditation earlier this year and nearly 10 other medical research institutions are also now in the process of seeking PHRP accreditation. The organizations include both research organizations and independent review boards. For more information about PHRP, please contact Jessica Briefer French, Assistant Vice President, PHRP, at 202-955-5177, or visit PHRP's Web site at http://www.phrp.org. ------ The Partnership for Human Research Protection, Inc. (PHRP) is an independent entity that was originally formed by the two most trusted names in health care quality and safety, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). PHRP helps organizations that conduct research to protect the safety, confidentiality and interests of study participants. PHRP offers a uniform national set of standards for accrediting human research protection programs that complements regulatory efforts and minimizes the need for additional government oversight. PHRP accreditation promotes best practices and continuous performance improvement to foster excellence within human research protection programs, helping them become as good as they can be. |