PAPERS OX MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 429 



THE PEESENT STATUS OF HOSPITAL 

 STAXDARDIZATIOX AND ITS VALUE TO " 

 THE PUBLIC 



T. Aethur Johxsox, M. D., Chief Sitigeox, Sw. Ameri- 

 can Hospital, Eockford 



For those not familiar with the Hospital Standardiza- 

 tion movement, I wish first to present a brief history of 

 its development. 



A large number of national organizations interested 

 in hospitals have become increasingly more concerned in 

 the betterment of hospital service. However, before 1915 

 practically nothing definite had been evolved from the 

 large amount of data which had been gathered on this 

 subject by these organizations, the most active of which 

 were The American Medical Association and The Ameri- 

 can Hospital Association. 



The Hospital Standardization Conference held in Chi- 

 cago, Oct. 20th, 1917 marked the beginning of active Hos- 

 pital Standardization. This meeting brought together 

 many of the leading hospital and medical men of the 

 United States and Canada, including the presidents of 

 the American Medical Association, the American Hos- 

 pital Association and the American College of Surgeons. 

 After considerable discussion of the various prol^lems 

 involved, Dr. Bevan recommended the creation of a gen- 

 eral committee of twenty-five to bring together all the 

 factors interested in the problem of Hospital Standard- 

 ization, such as; The American Medical Association, the 

 Association of the American Medical Colleges, the 

 American College of Surgeons, the American Hospital 

 Association, the State Licensing Boards, and all other 

 large associations interested in this work. 



At the close of this meeting a general committee was 

 appointed to work out a definite questionaire and sched- 

 ule for an extensive study of hospital conditions. This 

 general committee was made up of the leading physi- 

 cians, surgeons and hospital superintendents of the 

 country. They met in T\'ashington in December of 1917, 

 and worked out a questionaire which was sent to all 



