The aim of Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is to help improve not only the quality of care and value that accredited organizations provide to their patients, but also how well these ambulatory care facilities run. There are a few important steps your ASC should take to become accredited.
1. Patient Communication Strategy – An accredited organization must have an effective patient communication strategy for informing, protecting, and promoting patients’ rights and responsibilities around medical histories, fees and payment policies, conduct, transportation after surgery, treatment plans and other relevant policies, including a disclosure of physician ownership or financial interest.
2. Treatment plan – Accredited organizations facilitate the provision of high-quality health care by making an appropriate and timely diagnosis and treatment plan and performing medication reconciliation. This requires an effective and organized route to access medical histories and pertinent patient forms.
3. Documentation – Be sure your ASC has a program to document comprehensive medical history and health assessment no more than 30 days from a scheduled procedure, has specific instructions for discontinuation or resumption of medication after procedure along with corresponding documentation and a policy in place for risk assessment and prevention relating to deep vein thrombosis (when needed.)