Interdisciplinary hospital ethics committees have
been the most common response to the mandates for ethical
review procedures set forth by the Joint Commission for
the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO,
1995 Standards), the American Hospital Association, and
within institutions themselves. A 1989 national survey
reported that 60% of hospitals had ethics committees.
However, little is still known about the current state
of these committees in hospitals, their composition, what
functions are performed, or what issues are discussed.