AAAHC Institute Releases Three Quality Studies For Common Outpatient Procedures

The AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement, a non-profit subsidiary of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, released data from three new studies that offer insights to enhance the quality and efficiency of some of the most common outpatient procedures, according to an AAAHC news release.

The three reports address cataract extraction with lens insertion, knee arthroscopy with meniscectomy and colonoscopy for colorectal cancer. Participating surgery centers provided information about many of their policies and procedures to reduce supply costs, lower staffing costs, decrease facility time, expedite billing and collection and maintain high patient satisfaction.

The reports included information from organizations that had participated in other AAAHC Institute studies or were accredited by the AAAHC. Participation was also solicited through the AAAHC Institute Web site.

"There is a growing need for best-practices information by ambulatory care facilities, as an increasing proportion of all healthcare procedures are performed in outpatient settings," Naomi Kuznets, PhD, managing director of the AAAHC Institute, said in the release. "Our reports illustrate that excellent ambulatory patient care depends upon knowing and adopting certain practices and procedural efficiencies."

Benchmarking information for procedure-specific scheduling, facility time, billing and collection costs and patient satisfaction is included in the reports.

To order copies of the reports or for more information, visit www.aaahciqi.org.

Learn more about the AAAHC.