JCAH perspective: quality assurance in anesthesia services.

This is the first of a series of upcoming articles which will focus on the Joint Comnmission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) standards relative to quality assurance in anesthesia services. In this article, the author explains the JCAH standards' impact on anesthesia services. Future articles will utilize case examples of how individual anesthesia departments have improved patient care through the use of JCAH guidelines.