Georgia Eye Care: AAAHC Accreditation, a Mark of Distinction

08 Dec Georgia Eye Care: AAAHC Accreditation, a Mark of Distinction

If the thought of eye surgery unnerves you, you’re not alone. But you shouldn’t worry—the best Georgia eye care teams have worked at, achieved, and maintained certification from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, or AAAHC.

What Is the AAAHC?

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care is a private, nonprofit, collaborative voice in the health care industry that gives credibility to organizations that achieve their standards. The purpose of these standards is to commit health care providers to a constant level of improvement of care for their patients. The AAAHC provides thorough, on-site surveys every three years, sometimes even more frequently. Perhaps most interesting is that your surgeon’s peers are the ones conducting the surveys.

During their survey, the AAAHC educates and evaluates each practice on a number of crucial standards, including

• patient rights and responsibilities
• organizational governance and administration
• quality of care provided
• quality management and improvement
• facilities and environment
• anesthesia services
• surgical services

One of the best elements of the AAAHC’s accreditation program is flexibility. As an organization progresses through the process of being educated and surveyed, they are given grace in every area except the benchmarks for patient care. Scheduling is tailored to your surgeon’s office, and so is education. But throughout the process, the superior, nationally recognized standards are resolute and never compromised.

Flexibility is also crucial because there are constant new developments in technology and innovation. Every year, the AAAHC reviews and updates their Accreditation Handbook, establishing or modifying standards to ensure they reflect the latest developments in ambulatory health care. For example, when a new surgical tool gains popularity, AAAHC develops evidence-based standards of use for that tool so that each surgical center that uses it must do so correctly.

Why Is It So Important?

Angela FitzSimmons, the Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications for the AAAHC, tells us that accreditation is a crucial factor when choosing an eye surgeon. In an interview with Woodhams, she emphasized the importance of trust: “For consumers, it’s important to know that the provider is appropriately credentialed for the services he/she is offering, but also that the facility in which the procedure will take place is accredited.”

If you trust your health care provider and his office, you can focus on your own recovery and well-being. When an organization becomes AAAHC accredited, someone has done the inspection on your behalf, and your surgeon has invited this scrutiny. After meeting their credentials, you eye surgeon’s team enters into a constant succession of self-reevaluation and peer review.

To appreciate the importance of AAAHC accreditation, FitzSimmons urges people to face their own uncertainty head-on: “When an organization is AAAHC accredited, it has undergone an external, independent review of its policies, procedures, processes, and outcomes against nationally accepted standards. In other words, it has answered the question: Is this organization delivering safe, high-quality patient care in the way that it says it will?” After all, every outpatient surgical organization claims to have high standards. AAAHC accreditation is what designates a team who proves it.

Writing on the Wall

People who want the best in Georgia eye care should know what to look for in a surgical team, and AAAHC accreditation is something every patient should seek out from their eye clinic.

Georgia eye care has come a long way, and advancements are always developing. The surgical center at Woodhams Eye Clinic is certified by the AAAHC, and our doctors use the most advanced technology available.

For questions or comments, contact Woodhams Eye Clinic.