AAAHC, JCAHO sign recognition agreement
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An agreement signed by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) in Wilmette, IL, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, allows the ambulatory care, including same-day surgery, components of Joint Commission-surveyed organizations to use AAAHC accreditation decision to satisfy Joint Commission accreditation requirements. This agreement means that AAAHC-accredited same-day surgery programs do not have to undergo a Joint Commission survey even if the rest of the hospital is undergoing a survey.
This agreement is the result of the Joint Com-mission Cooperative Accreditation Initiative program that recognizes the decisions of other accreditation bodies. Accrediting organizations that can participate have requirements similar to those of the Joint Commission: survey cycle of three years or less; extensive survey and accreditation decision processes; standards development processes; and procedures for training and monitoring of surveyors.
Certified administrator exam set for Sept. 28
The Board of Ambulatory Surgery Certification (BASC) will administer the first certified administrator surgery center (CASC) examination on Sept. 28, 2002, in St. Louis. The board was developed by the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association (FASA). The exam will have five equally weighted sections: delivery of patient care, quality management, human resources, financial and business development, and regulatory and legal issues.
You do not have to be a member of FASA or be a surgery center administrator to take the exam. The application for the exam will be available at the www.aboutcasc.org web site, which at press time was scheduled to be up by the end of June, according to Sarah Silberstein, FASA deputy executive director. Registration also is available by contacting the BASC office at (703) 836-4871. A detailed content outline will be available through the web site and the BASC Office, Silberstein says. The cost for taking the examination is $750.
"The CASC credential benefits the industry by providing a mechanism for determining whether those serving or seeking positions as administrator have the necessary knowledge," Silberstein says. "It also establishes to the health care community that ambulatory surgery center are a separate and distinct category of health care entities."
Anesthesia section gets major changes for AAAHC
Standards related to anesthesia services undergo major revisions in the 2002 edition of the Wilmette, IL-based Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care’s (AAAHC) Accreditation Handbook for Ambulatory Health Care.
"The new anesthesia standards are far more detailed, with comprehensive definitions of differing levels of anesthesia," says C. William Hanke, MD, president of AAAHC. "This enables organizations to better determine which standards are applicable to them, depending on the level of anesthesia or sedation they are administering," he adds. Other sections that have been revised include governance, quality of care provided, quality management and improvement, and employee and occupational health services.
The handbook is available by contacting AAAHC, 3201 Old Glenview Road, Suite 300, Wilmette, IL 60091. Telephone: (847) 853-6060. Fax: (847) 853-9028. Web: www.aaahc.org.
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