OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill.--A New York physician with a strong track record in patient safety and quality improvement in medical care will take the reins as president of The Joint Commission, the accrediting organization announced last week.

Mark R. Chassin, M.D., M.P.P., M.P.H., will assume his new duties Jan. 1. He is currently the Edmond A. Guggenheim professor of health policy and chairman of the department of health policy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, as well as the executive vice president for excellence in patient care at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Chassin succeeds Dennis O'Leary, M.D., who has been at the organization's helm for 21 years. O'Leary will continue in his role until the end of the year before becoming President Emeritus in 2008.

Chassin isn't the only change to The Joint Commission's roster of executives. Also last week, the accreditor named Debra Zak, Ph.D., R.N., as executive director of its home care accreditation program and promoted Robert Floro, R.R.T., to director.

In announcing the changes, the commission said both Zak and Floro bring broad experience to their new positions.

Zak, whose role will be to advocate for accreditation for home care companies, has been with The Joint Commission for 15 years, serving most recently as field director of surveyor management and development in the division of accreditation and certification operations. She also has worked as a surveyor and as an associate director of standards interpretation. Before joining The Joint Commission, she worked in the home care field and as a hospital nurse.

Zak succeeds Mary Ann Popovich, who retired earlier this year. (See HomeCare Monday, April 2.)

Floro, who will concentrate on the DMEPOS aspects of accreditation, was most recently senior associate director of The Joint Commission's home care program. He was previously a general manager for American HomePatient in central and eastern Kentucky, and also held leadership positions with Respro Home Care in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee.

The Joint Commission's home care accreditation program was launched in 1988 and has accredited more than 3,400 organizations with over 10,000 locations.