The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services granted the Institute for Medical Quality deeming status as a national accrediting organization for ambulatory surgery centers participating in Medicare or Medicaid.
Here are five key notes:
1. CMS assessed IMQ's standards for accreditation, training procedures, monitoring and evaluating surveyors, complaint procedures and decision-making processes for accreditation. The agency also reviewed IMQ's documentation before granting deeming status.
2. Most of the IMQ surveyors are actively practicing physicians, as the organization believes in peer-to-peer methodology to increase the value of the accreditation process.
3. ASCs were particularly important for IMQ, as more procedures are moving into the outpatient setting. The number of outpatient surgeries could grow by nearly 20 percent within the next decade, according to IMQ.
4. IMQ emphasizes education, counseling and directly involving practice physicians in the process. The program is developed to update physicians and ensure materials are relevant, current and meaningful.
5. William H. Goodson III, MD, senior clinical research scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute is the chair of IMQ's board of directors. Vice chair of the board is Barbara R. Paul, MD, former Senior Vice President and Chief Medial Officer of Community Health Systems.