The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) is celebrating its 40^th anniversary as the leader in ambulatory health care accreditation. Over the past four decades, AAAHC has driven quality improvement in ambulatory patient care through a quality-focused, peer-based, and educational accreditation process. 

With an exclusive focus on ambulatory health care, AAAHC has developed rigorous, comprehensive, nationally recognized Standards to guide health care facility compliance with best practices and patient-safety guidelines. All AAAHC surveyors have experience in the ambulatory setting, ensuring an expert-guided survey experience from start to finish. And throughout the three-year accreditation cycle, AAAHC provides live and webinar-based education programs to help participating facilities understand and maintain compliance. 

“More than 6,100 facilities have earned the AAAHC Certificate of Accreditation over the past 40 years, an achievement that speaks to our organization’s commitment to providing safe, high-quality health care services to patients,” said Arnaldo Valedon, MD, anesthesiologist and AAAHC Board chair. “As we embark on the next decade, our focus remains on our mission to increase value to health care organizations and the patients they care for, while striving to foster an accreditation mindset – before, during and in between accreditation surveys.”

In 2019, AAAHC plans to take bold steps toward refining and strengthening the delivery of its mission and lead the transformation of ambulatory health care, including:

·         Engaging with clients more frequently throughout the accreditation cycle with tools, resources, and education that bring meaningful value when they need it.

·         Focusing facilities’ efforts on robust, evidence-based Standards that are relevant and specific to their setting and practice.

·         Holding accredited clients accountable for implementing plans of correction and conducting annual gap assessments.

·         Strengthening the quality and consistency of surveyors and the education that they deliver, which is so valued by participants.

·         Delivering interactive and engaging education that is conveniently accessible to providers.

·         Expanding our portfolio to include certifications programs for organizations seeking to be recognized for excellence in the specialty health care services they provide.

“It’s not just about facility performance on the day of the onsite survey. Our goal is to help ambulatory health organizations adopt best practices for the continual improvement in quality of care by offering tools, resources, and relevant education that bring meaningful value,” said Noel Adachi, president and CEO of AAAHC. “With ongoing engagement throughout the 1,095-day cycle, we aim to equip facilities with a solid foundation on which to build and integrate a progressive quality-improvement culture into the very fabric of their daily operations.”

 For more information on AAAHC please visit www.aaahc.org.