In conjunction with the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA), the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) is encouraging its accredited ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) to follow new guidance intended to further protect patients, families, and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, ASCA released 10 recommendations for ASCs performing necessary surgeries at this time, and AAAHC has published a new tool to aid health care facilities with identification, isolation, and information sharing measures.

Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, the ASCA recommendations and their alignment with AAAHC Standards reinforce pre-screening measures, social distancing, appropriate personal protective equipment use and treatment, and post-operative screening to assess any COVID-19-related symptoms.

“The joint guidance aids our accredited surgery centers by providing clear, actionable methods to limit the spread of infection,” said Noel Adachi, MBA, president and CEO of AAAHC. “By aligning AAAHC Standards with the recommendations from ASCA, we are helping our clients perform necessary gap analyses and keep quality of care top of mind.”

The newly released information complements previous educational presentations by AAAHC, including recent webinars and other online resources related to the COVID-19 health crisis.

“Our collective efforts are focused on limiting the spread of COVID-19 while helping surgery centers maintain safe operations when performing necessary procedures,” said William Prentice, chief executive officer of ASCA. “AAAHC has taken an important step in stressing alignment of industry guidance with established and comprehensive standards related to delivery of care and patient and provider safety.”

“Infection prevention and control efforts demonstrate commitment to the 1095 Strong, quality every day philosophy, and they are now more meaningful than ever,” said Adachi.

To access this new guidance and other resources to support infection prevention efforts, visit www.ascassociation.org/covid-19-message or www.aaahc.org/covid-19.