The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), founded in 1979, is an American organization which accredits
ambulatory health care organizations, including ambulatory surgery centers, office-based surgery centers, endoscopy centers, and college student health centers, as well as health plans, such as
health maintenance organizations
In the United States, a health maintenance organization (HMO) is a medical insurance group that provides health services for a fixed annual fee. It is an organization that provides or arranges managed care for health insurance, self-funded healt ...
and
preferred provider organizations.
AAAHC has been granted "deemed status" to certify ambulatory surgery centers for Medicare by the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer M ...
. In 2009, the AAAHC added the
Medical home
The medical home, also known as the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), is a team-based health care delivery model led by a health care provider to provide comprehensive and continuous medical care to patients with a goal to obtain maximal heal ...
to the types of organizations that it accredits. It offers on-site surveys for organizations seeking Medical Home accreditation or certification.
The AAAHC survey model is one of cooperation and education. It is unique in offering accreditation surveys that are conducted by professionals who are actively involved in ambulatory care and have first-hand understanding of the specific issues facing the facilities they survey. Surveyors assess how an organization meets prevailing Standards and share their knowledge and experience with others to help ambulatory service providers maintain high standards. AAAHC is one of three organizations that accredits office-based surgery practices, the others being the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c) organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs. The international branch accredits medical services from around the world. A majorit ...
and the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities.
In 2010, the organization extended its accreditation services internationally, beginning with Costa Rica. The program has since expanded to Peru and further expansion is planned. AAAHC announced the launch of a new accreditation program for hospitals in 2012, which will focus on small hospitals and will be offered through a new entity established by AAAHC, the Accreditation Association for Hospitals/Health Systems Inc. (AAHHS).
AAAHC continuously reviews its standards and revises current standards and adds new standards as required by the constantly changing health care arena. Each year in August there is a public comment period where these revisions and additions are presented for review and comment by interested parties.
History
The Accreditation Association was formed in 1979 by six member organizations including the American College Health Association, the
ASC Association, and the Medical Group Management Association.
[Kongstvedt, Peter R. ''Essentials of Managed Health Care''. Jones and Bartlett: Boston, 2007]
The Accreditation Association has 18 Association Members:
AAAHC Member Organizations/Board of Directors
. Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care web site. Retrieved on 2008-12-05.
*Ambulatory Surgery Foundation
*American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery
*American Academy of Dental Group Practice
*American Academy of Dermatology
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) is a non-profit professional organization of dermatologists in the United States and Canada, based in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago. It was founded in 1938 and has more than 20,500 members. The Academy ...
*American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is a medical society for facial plastic and reconstructive surgeons. It exists to promote high quality facial plastic surgery, and runs courses, workshops, scientific presentation ...
*American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) is the non-profit professional association serving the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery, the surgical arm of dentistry. Its headquarters are in Rosemont, Illinois.
*American College of Gastroenterology
The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is a Bethesda, Maryland–based medical association of gastroenterologists.
The association was founded in 1932 and holds annual meetings and regional postgraduate continuing education courses, est ...
*American College Health Association
*American College of Mohs Surgery
*American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is a professional association of physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology in the United States. Several Latin American countries are also represented within Districts of ...
*American Dental Association
The American Dental Association (ADA) is an American professional association established in 1859 which has more than 161,000 members. Based in the American Dental Association Building in the Near North Side of Chicago, the ADA is the world's ...
*American Gastroenterological Association
The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) is a medical association of gastroenterologists. Approximately 16,000 scientists and physicians are members of the organization.
Overview
The American Gastroenterological Association is a pr ...
*American Society of Anesthesiologists
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is an educational, research and scientific association of physicians organized to raise the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and to improve patient care.
As of 2021, the organizat ...
*American Society for Dermatologic Surgery
*American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) is a professional organization of physicians dedicated to improving endoscopy. The ASGE is made up largely of gastroenterologists from the United States. Included in its membership are en ...
*Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) represents more than 41,000 registered nurses in the United States and abroad who facilitate the management, teaching, and practice of perioperative nursing, or who are enrolled in nursin ...
* Medical Group Management Association
*Society of Ambulatory Anesthesia
Accreditation process
Standards are reviewed and updated annually to keep up with current trends and technologies in the health care arena. AAAHC surveyors are volunteers: physicians, dentists, podiatrists, pharmacists, nurses and administrators who are actively involved with ambulatory health care.
AAAHC offers a three-year term of accreditation
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
. An organization may also receive a deferral or denial of accreditation if compliance is not met.
Institute for Quality Improvement
In 1999, the AAAHC founded its non-profit subsidiary, the AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement (AAAHC Institute) to offer performance measurement opportunities and related quality improvement/educational programs to ambulatory health care organizations. The AAAHC Institute has conducted and published more than 70 studies.
See also
* List of healthcare accreditation organizations in the USA
References
External links
Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care
{{Authority control
Medical and health organizations based in Illinois
Healthcare accreditation organizations in the United States