The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) granted the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner (OME) full accreditation, calling it one of the best medical examiner offices in the country.
The accreditation process involves a rigorous inspection of the 29,000-square-foot facility at 500 Quivas St. and a review of office practices, policies, and procedures.
The overall object of accreditation is to ensure a high-caliber medicolegal death investigation system for the communities in which they operate.
Last month, a NAME team of four senior forensic pathologists conducted the inspection. They toured the facility, met with OME staff of 27 employees, watched them in action, pulled random death cases and records from the database and spoke with Executive Director of the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment Bob McDonald and senior members of the Denver District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Municipal Public Defender.
The inspectors looked over a checklist of 349 items that OME staff have been working to complete for months. OME satisfied all but one requirement. It said two of its forensic pathologists conducted more annual autopsies than is optimal. But DDPHE-OME had already set in motion a plan to recruit a fourth forensic pathologist to address the increase in autopsies before the inspection.
In 2020, 5,500 deaths were reported to the OME. It accepted 1,585 (28.8%) of the reported deaths to investigate. The NAME team stated that OME performed 904 autopsies in 2020, almost all were complete autopsy examinations, which is best practice. It also performed an additional 456 external examinations.
OME has four full-time forensic pathologists, including the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. James Caruso. Four autopsy assistants, one on-call, and one supervisor help with autopsies in seven autopsy suites six days a week.
There are also eight full-time medicolegal death investigators, two on-call investigators, and one Chief of Investigations. The group provides 24/7 coverage of incoming reports of death and scene investigations.
OME also hosts rotating medical students and pathology resident physicians from programs including CU’s School of Medicine and Rocky Vista College of Osteopathic Medicine. It also has internships and an accredited forensic pathology fellowship program.
Inspectors stated OME staff have a system-wide commitment to death investigation excellence focused on respect for each deceased person and individual and public health outcomes.
“Maintaining accreditation by the National Association of Medical Examiners is the most important quality assurance tool a medical examiner’s office has. It tells the world that Denver does it right. Medical Examiners are public health physicians on the front lines of pandemics, the opiate epidemic, and violent crime. Despite the stresses of a pandemic and a record number of overdose deaths, the Denver Office if the Medical Examiner had a near perfect inspection, which was a direct result of the talent and dedication of every member of the DOME team,” said Dr. Caruso.
Denver’s OME has been accredited for 20 years, but received provisional accreditation in 2016 for facility deficiencies, which were corrected in 2018 when OME moved into a new building. Inspectors said the new “facility was thoughtfully designed for forensic pathology and death investigations, efficient workflow, and safety of employees and visitors.”
Accreditation is effective until October 25, 2024.