Accreditors Blamed for Overlooking Problems

Conflict of Interest Cited Between Health Facilities, Group That Assesses Conditions

By Gilbert M. Gaul
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 25, 2005; Page A01

Second of three parts

The creators of Medicare faced a problem. They were about to hand out millions -- eventually billions -- of dollars each year in tax money for hospitals to care for the nation's elderly. But how to make sure those hospitals were qualified?

Government bureaucrats had no experience overseeing the quality of health care, so in 1965 lawmakers turned instead to a private group -- a little-known organization that already was in the business of evaluating hospitals.