1. New infection control standards. The ASC must have a written infection control program. The program must identify standards from a nationally recognized group, such as the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses or the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates. To manage the program, the ASC must designate a lead person who is a healthcare professional, such as a nurse or nurse practitioner, but he or she can also be a physician, a handy choice for a small ASC. The program must include certain details, such as specific procedures for hand hygiene. And there must be an in-house surveillance program to ensure standards are carried out. At one ASC, for example, staff uses a codeword, “SpongeBob,” so as not to alarm patients, whenever they see a violation of hand hygiene policies.
2. Reprocessing of single-use devices. The new patient safety part of the new chapter has an addition on reprocessing single-use devices. The devices must come from approved vendors and the ASC has to have a written policy on their use. For example, are surgeons notified about their use and are they given the choice of using them or not?
3. Preventing use of wrong drugs. Look-alike and sound-alike drugs now must be kept separate wherever they are kept, such as in crash carts or the anesthesia room.
4. Use of drawn medications. Injectable medications put in syringes before surgery now must be labeled with the name of the drug, the dose, what time it was drawn, its expiration time and the initials of the person who drew the drug.
5. Responsibility to report adverse incidents. The core chapter on administration now assigns all employees the responsibility of reporting adverse events or adverse incidents. The latter are any deviations from expected practices, such as not following hand hygiene policies. This responsibility must be identified in the job description and at employee orientation.
6. Drills for emergencies. ASCs now need to identify what kinds of emergencies and disasters they have in mind in drills with staff. An ASC on the Gulf Coast, for example, might list a hurricane, while a Midwestern ASC might list a tornado.
7. Disaster services for community. ASCs need to specify which services they could offer to their community in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Learn out more about AAAHC.
Read more about accreditation:
–10 Articles to Help Overcome Common ASC Accreditation Challenges
–10 Sample ASC Policies, Procedures, Tools and Resources
–Frequency of Narcotic and Pharmacy Audits: Q&A With Sheldon Sones of Sheldon S. Sones and Associates
