ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Three national health care accrediting agencies have agreed to a uniform definition of “reportable adverse events in office-based surgery (OBS).” The American Association of Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities, Inc. (AAAASF), Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. (AAAHC), and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) collaborated in developing the model for defining and reporting medical errors. The collaboration was sponsored by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and facilitated by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Previously, there has not been a consensus on what constitutes an adverse medical event or the critical data elements that should be reported and analyzed in office-based surgery.
“Patient safety is of paramount importance to all physicians,” said Thomas R. Russell, MD, FACS, executive director, ACS. “That is why we at the College and the leadership at the ASPS felt it imperative to help facilitate this important collaboration between the accrediting agencies.”
“The federal government, state legislatures and regulatory bodies are focusing significant attention on health care quality, performance and patient safety initiatives,” said James A. Yates, MD, president of the AAAASF. “This agreement sets these three health care accreditation agencies at an advantage to address the government’s concerns.”
Health care accreditation agencies rigorously inspect and evaluate OBS facilities to ensure that they meet standards of excellence and verifiable quality. Accreditation involves evaluating an OBS facility’s performance in areas that affect patient health and safety. By achieving accreditation, an OBS facility commits to following an established set of standards, which provide the framework for safe, quality care. All ASPS members who operate in OBS facilities are required to be accredited.
“The move toward state-level mandatory adverse event reporting requirements and quality improvement is an important trend in health care,” said Francis DiPlacido, DMD, FACD, AAAHC president. “Currently there are about 13 states that have mandatory reporting requirements for OBS facilities, but there is no consistency in the definitions of adverse reportable events. Our agreement is intended to help legislators or regulators in setting high standards for quality health care in OBS facilities.”
In July, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act into law establishing a confidential, voluntary reporting system in which physicians and other health care providers could submit information on errors to patient safety organizations (PSOs) without fear of lawsuits or punishments.
“Ambulatory health care accrediting bodies, today, serve as repositories for the collection and analysis of adverse event data,” said Chuck Mowll, executive vice president of JCAHO. “The collective commitment of these three accrediting agencies, and the ACS and ASPS, to confirm and clarify this important role will contribute to the improvement of the quality and safety of office-based surgery.”
Print this page