Insist On AAAHC Accreditation for Your Plastic Surgery

When you opt to have an in-office surgical procedure, you want to be sure you’re getting the best care from your board-certified surgeon. That’s a given.

You may not give much thought to the office-based anesthesia accreditation organization of the clinic or facility where you’re having the procedure though. You may just assume your location is accredited. And if so, there’s just one organization.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. That’s why it’s important you look for AAAHC Accreditation for your plastic surgery.

Office-Based Anesthesia Accreditation Varies

According to the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF), there are three different accreditation organizations. JCAHO (the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations), AAAHC (the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care), and AAAASF (the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities).

All three organizations have received “deemed” status from Medicare. For the purposes of this blog, we’ll be looking at AAAHC and AAAASF specifically.

Why You Want AAAHC Accreditation for Your Plastic Surgery

First of all, you’ll want to ensure that your in-office clinic or facility actually has accreditation. It turns out that many do not.

Once you establish that your site does, it’s important to consider that not all accreditation organizations are created equal. AAAHC holds higher standards and offers more meticulous oversight than AAAASF.

Standards Addressed Through AAAHC

For example, the issues of State Licensure, Distinct Entity, Review of Patient Satisfaction, Cost of Care Reviews, Report Carding, Professional continuing education, and Immediate pre-procedure assessment by MD are all addressed in the standards for AAAHC, but not for AAAASF.

The standard of Pre-discharge evaluation by physician is also addressed clearly with AAAHC, but with AAAASF, it is more vague.

In terms of Documentation, Physical plant, Assessment of Patients, Continuity of Care, Safety, Medical Records, Confidentiality, Peer Review, Quality Improvement, and Risk Management, AAAASF receives a “good” rating for Safety, “fair” for Medical Records and Peer Review, and a “weak” rating for all of the others. Risk Management is not even addressed.

By comparison, AAAHC receives a “good” rating for Medical Records, and “strong” to “very strong” ratings for everything else, including Risk Management.

In addition, AAAHC requires a board-certified doctor to perform anesthesia, while AAAASF requires only a nurse anesthetist.

Finally, a reappraisal of medical staff is performed annually through AAAASF, but biannually with AAAHC. So it seems that the choice is pretty clear.

You Deserve the Best!

The decision to have plastic surgery is not one most patients make without careful consideration. So if you’re ready to take the leap, then contact us today.

We insist on only board-certified surgeons and AAAHC accreditation for your plastic surgery. We will not settle for less.

And neither should you.