Who performs accreditation of a facility?
Accreditation can be performed by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery (AAAASF), the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) or the Joint Commission (JC). The latter organization is responsible for the accreditation of hospitals while to former two are responsible for the accreditation of ambulatory and office based surgical facilities. In 2003, Joint Commission offered accreditation of office based surgery programs. The Joint Commission standards are the most detailed and stringent of all three for office based surgery facilities. A Joint Commission inspection includes but is not limited to: assessment of competency of all staff, infection control, quality assurance, environment of care, national patient safety goals, chart review, safety, medication management, governance, equipment management, staff education, clinical performance, benchmarking and policy and procedure, just to name some of the areas of concentration.
