NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. county jails may be able to improve access to medical care and lower death rates behind bars through healthcare accreditation, the Los Angeles Times on Monday cited new research by Harvard University economists, but the process still leaves inmates frustrated by low standards of care.

The Harvard study looked at 44 midsize jails across the country and found those that earned accreditation from the nonprofit National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) saw a 93 percent lower monthly death rate than those that didn't. Over the course of the study, that reduction could have saved about 15 lives, the researchers said in a preliminary draft of their work, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Crystal Yang, a professor at Harvard Law School and one of the study's co-authors, said jails that seek a stamp of approval from the NCCHC tend to better educate staff about referring inmates for treatment. The purpose is "making sure the processes and procedures for triaging and managing inmate patients are up to standard," she said.

Becoming accredited takes several months, usually costs 5,000 U.S. dollars to 10,000 dollars, the Harvard researchers said, and typically involves a facility inspection by NCCHC experts. The jails in the study didn't hire more staff, change healthcare providers or buy new equipment, but still saw lower death rates than the facilities that did not seek accreditation. Enditem

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