SDS Accreditation Update
Here are revised AAAHC standards
Patient safety, clarification of credentialing and reappointment requirements, and requirements for laser privileges are a few of the major categories addressed in the revised 2004 accreditation standards from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. Among the standard revisions are:
• Develop and maintain a policy defining the care of pediatric patients, with reference to specific components of perioperative care as listed in standard 10-U.
• The organization must show it has established procedures to obtain information necessary for primary or secondary source verification of the application and is responsible for obtaining this information.
• Under Standard 2-II-B-5, on an application for reappointment, in addition to verifying current licensure, the organization also must obtain information from the National Practitioner Data Bank (www.npdb-hipdb.com/).
• In reference to medical discharge procedures under Standard 9-K-1, a physician or dentist is present or immediately available until medical discharge of the patient.
• Chapter 10’s provisions have been expanded to include surgical and related services, and the provisions now also apply to organizations that provide any invasive procedures, such as pain management, endoscopy procedures, cardiac catheterization, lithotripsy, and in vitro fertilization, as well as surgery.
• Under Standard 10-I, staff qualified in advanced resuscitative techniques such as advanced cardiac life support or pediatric advanced life support when pediatric patients are served, are present or immediately available until all patients operated on that day have been physically discharged. A physician or dentist is no longer required to be present or immediately available until physical discharge, but he/she must be present or available by telephone any time that patients are present.
• Under Standard 10-L, only authorized people are allowed into the surgical or treatment area, including laser rooms.
• As part of an organization’s responsibility to ensure that its facility provides a safe environment for using laser technology, the organization will grant privileges for each specific laser. In addition, to ensure appropriate laser fire protection, the organization must have the immediate availability of electrical-rated fire extinguishers for equipment fires, maintain a wet environment around the operative field, and ensure the immediate availability of an open container of saline or water where ignition of flammable materials is possible. Also, the organization must ensure that drape material is not positioned in front of the laser beam. Drapes should be checked prior to use of laser to ensure that material has not shifted during the procedure. Also, organizations must ensure that procedures are done in accordance with laser manufacturers’ guidelines and are consistent with the current version of the American National Standards Institute’s Standards for Safe Use of Lasers in Health Care Facilities.
• Additions were made to pharmaceutical procedures under 15-B-6, that prescribed that all injectable medications drawn into syringes or oral medication removed from the packing identified by the original manufacturer must be appropriately labeled if not administered immediately.
Patient safety, clarification of credentialing and reappointment requirements, and requirements for laser privileges are a few of the major categories addressed in the revised 2004 accreditation standards from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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