ASCs that just recently opened may look to apply for early option accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care to more quickly demonstrate to the community its commitment and competency for quality care. Here are five practices that can help younger surgery centers achieve early option accreditation.
1. Research information on accreditation standards early. A number of organizations, including AAAHC and specialty-specific organizations, offer regular seminars or conferences that include informational meetings on accreditation by subject matter experts. Freida Toler, administrator at Amarillo (Texas) Endoscopy Center, says she went to an AAAHC conference before Amarillo applied for early option accreditation to glean further knowledge that would help the surgery center attain that distinction.
"At one conference I went to, there was a panel of physicians that talked about what policies worked or didn't work in their particular arenas, and then there was a debate session afterwards about why certain policies were implemented over others," she says. "For example, open access to get screening for colonoscopies seemed to be hailed as a best practice across the board. They also debated a lot about quality improvement studies, such as how to best do a cost analysis on disposable supplies, such as balloon dilations or Maloney dilations."
2. Revamp past policies. If at all possible, with permission from the appropriate personnel, surgery centers should use policies and procedures from previous workplaces as a template. By using policies and procedures from her previous hospital employer, Ms. Toler saved time and energy needed to build policies from scratch and helped her facility more quickly achieve accreditation by the AAAHC.
"With permission from the hospital where I was the manager of the endoscopy lab, I brought over the policies and procedures that were used there and revamped them to fit the needs of our endoscopy center," Ms. Toler says. "It required some changing because hospitals run in a completely different manner than ASCs."
3. Consult with other surgery centers. In addition to adopting past policies and procedures from her previous place of work, Ms. Toler also consulted with another ASC manager of a surgery center in Wichita Falls, Texas, who assisted her in building up a set of policies and procedures that would help the facility achieve accreditation.
"A Wichita Falls ASC manager took the policies used at her facility and shared them with me so I could better adopt different ideas to Amarillo," she says. "Sometimes in the medical world, people are willing to help each other. Maybe it makes a difference that she was a long ways away from me so she wasn't in the same competing market, but even the local hospital here and I are not opposed to calling each other and asking questions. We don't feel the need to always be such cut-throat competition."
4. Use the AAAHC handbook as a guide. Angie Laux, administrator at Bellin Surgery Center in Green Bay, Wis., which also achieved early option accreditation by the AAAHC, says purchasing and going through the AAAHC self-assessment workbook helped the facility prepare for the survey.
"After purchasing the workbook, we went through each page with a fine-tooth comb to make sure we were in compliance with every standard way before we even opened our doors to the public," she says.
5. Train and prepare staff early. Having staff members on board as early as possible in adopting policies and procedures to attain accreditation is key to ensuring the entire facility is on the same page the day a surveyor walks through the facility's doors.
"We really wanted to make sure every single employee knew what the policies and procedures were at the facility, whether it be about IV fluids, topical medication, antibiotics and so on," Ms. Toler says. "Before we opened, everyone sat in a big conference room and went through each policy one by one, explaining how each policy was going to meet a certain standard for accreditation. It was also a good time to get feedback from them to see if anything needed to be rewritten."
Ms. Laux agrees involving staff helped change some of the policies and procedures to make way for more efficient processes. "My very first day here, the first thing we did as a staff was sit down and pull apart every chart we had done and critique each page to make adjustments," she says. "For example, now our charts have a place to indicate time and not just the date, which is a big thing with Medicare right now. It was a process for improvement in seeing what would be the most efficient way to set up these charts."
Learn more about Amarillo Endoscopy Center.
1. Research information on accreditation standards early. A number of organizations, including AAAHC and specialty-specific organizations, offer regular seminars or conferences that include informational meetings on accreditation by subject matter experts. Freida Toler, administrator at Amarillo (Texas) Endoscopy Center, says she went to an AAAHC conference before Amarillo applied for early option accreditation to glean further knowledge that would help the surgery center attain that distinction.
"At one conference I went to, there was a panel of physicians that talked about what policies worked or didn't work in their particular arenas, and then there was a debate session afterwards about why certain policies were implemented over others," she says. "For example, open access to get screening for colonoscopies seemed to be hailed as a best practice across the board. They also debated a lot about quality improvement studies, such as how to best do a cost analysis on disposable supplies, such as balloon dilations or Maloney dilations."
2. Revamp past policies. If at all possible, with permission from the appropriate personnel, surgery centers should use policies and procedures from previous workplaces as a template. By using policies and procedures from her previous hospital employer, Ms. Toler saved time and energy needed to build policies from scratch and helped her facility more quickly achieve accreditation by the AAAHC.
"With permission from the hospital where I was the manager of the endoscopy lab, I brought over the policies and procedures that were used there and revamped them to fit the needs of our endoscopy center," Ms. Toler says. "It required some changing because hospitals run in a completely different manner than ASCs."
3. Consult with other surgery centers. In addition to adopting past policies and procedures from her previous place of work, Ms. Toler also consulted with another ASC manager of a surgery center in Wichita Falls, Texas, who assisted her in building up a set of policies and procedures that would help the facility achieve accreditation.
"A Wichita Falls ASC manager took the policies used at her facility and shared them with me so I could better adopt different ideas to Amarillo," she says. "Sometimes in the medical world, people are willing to help each other. Maybe it makes a difference that she was a long ways away from me so she wasn't in the same competing market, but even the local hospital here and I are not opposed to calling each other and asking questions. We don't feel the need to always be such cut-throat competition."
4. Use the AAAHC handbook as a guide. Angie Laux, administrator at Bellin Surgery Center in Green Bay, Wis., which also achieved early option accreditation by the AAAHC, says purchasing and going through the AAAHC self-assessment workbook helped the facility prepare for the survey.
"After purchasing the workbook, we went through each page with a fine-tooth comb to make sure we were in compliance with every standard way before we even opened our doors to the public," she says.
5. Train and prepare staff early. Having staff members on board as early as possible in adopting policies and procedures to attain accreditation is key to ensuring the entire facility is on the same page the day a surveyor walks through the facility's doors.
"We really wanted to make sure every single employee knew what the policies and procedures were at the facility, whether it be about IV fluids, topical medication, antibiotics and so on," Ms. Toler says. "Before we opened, everyone sat in a big conference room and went through each policy one by one, explaining how each policy was going to meet a certain standard for accreditation. It was also a good time to get feedback from them to see if anything needed to be rewritten."
Ms. Laux agrees involving staff helped change some of the policies and procedures to make way for more efficient processes. "My very first day here, the first thing we did as a staff was sit down and pull apart every chart we had done and critique each page to make adjustments," she says. "For example, now our charts have a place to indicate time and not just the date, which is a big thing with Medicare right now. It was a process for improvement in seeing what would be the most efficient way to set up these charts."
Learn more about Amarillo Endoscopy Center.