PREFACE

The Standards for Patient Care address essential principles and processes for the clinical care of the volunteers who come to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center to participate in clinical research. Excellent patient care is the overarching goal. These standards offer guidance on such components as the objective measurement of medical staff competence, preadmission planning, and multidisciplinary patient care, and the importance of clear and timely communication with referring physicians.

The Clinical Center Medical Executive Committee developed and approved these standards, which complement the Standards for Clinical Research set forth in 2000.

The Medical Executive Committee acknowledges and appreciates the efforts of Dr. Richard Cannon, clinical director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and former MEC chair, who initiated and coordinated the preparation of these standards by the MEC. The NIH institutes and centers are represented on the MEC by their clinical directors.

Other NIH standards for training, ethics, and conduct for scientists include the following: Guidelines for the Conduct of Research in the Intramural Research Program at NIH and A Guide to Training and Mentoring in the Intramural Research Program at NIH ).