NAMES IN THE NEWS

AAAHC v43 Handbooks Introduce New Standards Architecture

JANUARY 2024

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) of Deerfield, Illinois, announced the release of its v43 Standards Handbooks for both Ambulatory Accreditation and Medicare Deemed Status accreditation last week. These handbooks introduce and integrate into the updated standard sets 1095 Engage, AAAHC’s new accreditation management system, according to a release. They will provide organizations with tools to continue to drive innovation, agility and excellence in the ambulatory setting, reinforcing AAAHC's 1095 Strong, quality every day philosophy.

“This is a particularly significant update to our flagship standards handbooks and is a result of lots of input from our accredited organizations and the hard work and collaboration of our subject matter experts, committees, surveyors and staff,” said Noel Adachi, president and chief executive officer of AAAHC, in the release. “The integration of our new accreditation management system specifically is a foundational change that will bring measurable value to our accredited organizations.”

In addition to utilizing technological solutions to enhance patient documentation and internal workflows, updates in the v43 handbooks reflect realignment of standards to minimize redundancies and improve clarity of requirements across AAAHC programs, according to the release. Designed to facilitate compliance, the v43 handbooks ensure providers have access to the highest quality standards and resources in the industry.

“The standards handbooks are comprehensive but strategically designed to be very actionable for organizations as they evaluate their survey readiness and set quality improvement goals for their organization,” said David Shapiro, MD, former president and current member of the ASCA Board of Directors and immediate past board chair for AAAHC, in the release. “It’s an ideal time to make assessments and embark on quality improvement initiatives in the spirit of the 1095 Strong, quality every day philosophy.”

For additional information on the latest standards updates, visit https://www.aaahc.org/v43Standards.