New Joint Commission standard tells hospitals to squelch disruptive behaviors

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Aug. 18, 2008 The Joint Commission is calling on hospitals to crack down on "disruptive" health care professionals, over concerns that such behavior impacts patient care. A new commission standard taking effect in January 2009 will require hospital administrators to adopt codes defining disruptive behavior and develop procedures to discipline medical staff and other health professionals who behave badly.