AAAHC launches new institute, initiatives
By mid-1999, accreditation to include assessment
Performance measurement will be linked to accreditation through a new Institute for Quality Improvement that will be launched later this year by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) in Skokie, IL.
One major mission of the institute will be the development of indicators for various ambulatory care settings, including same-day surgery. It also will provide education and research, maintain a national data clearinghouse for ambulatory care, and offer consulting services, says AAAHC executive director and chief executive officer John Burke, PhD.
"AAAHC will work with various stakeholders, including member organizations, to determine measures or indicators to be examined at the national level," Burke says.
"Accredited organizations will, over time, be expected to participate in this initiative as part of the AAAHC accreditation process. Timelines are currently being developed, but we expect participation by several specialty areas by mid-1999."
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, also plans to add ambulatory care facilities to its ORYX performance measurement initiative, although no timeline has been set, says spokes-woman Janet McIntyre.
AAAHC likely to follow ORYX model
The AAAHC performance measurement initiative is likely to follow the ORYX model in that it will allow centers to choose indicators and measurement systems that suit their needs, says Sam Romeo, MD, chairman of AAAHC's Performance Measurement Task Force. In addition to ambulatory surgery centers, AAAHC accredits student health clinics, physician offices, independent practice associations, and even health maintenance organizations, all with a different ambulatory care focus.
"We want to [build] it from the ground up," says Romeo, president and chief executive officer of University Affiliates IPA in Alhambra, CA. "How do individual practitioners measure what they do in their environment against comparable and similar types of environments?"
Protocols or guidelines to be developed
AAAHC's institute will develop benchmarks and, eventually, protocols or guidelines related to ambulatory care, says Bernard Kershner, immediate past-president of AAAHC and chairman of the steering committee for the Institute for Quality Improvement.
Kershner, who in the 1970s was one of the first to develop same-day surgery centers, envisions an institute that also serves consumers' needs for information about quality as they make their health care decisions.
"This is an important priority for [AAAHC]," he says. "This will be a program that will fill a void and provide very user-friendly, truly useful tools that will help both providers of health care and consumers of health care."
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