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A C C R E D I T A T I O N
that's certainly part of the reason we've continued," she says. "But we
also learn a great deal from the survey process." According to our survey, 60% of responders seek accreditation to secure reimbursements,
while 16% do so to ensure their staffs stay current with national guidelines.
Ms. Mentz says her accreditors have revamped their approach in
recent years to better assess the unique circumstances of the outpatient setting. (Three-fourths of survey respondents believe accreditation standards reflect their practice settings.) They spend approximately 3 days tracing patients from pre-op to PACU, conducting document reviews, walking through the facility to assess the environment
of care and conducting exit interviews.
"They're always teaching and providing examples of how other facilities solve issues similar to ours," says Ms. Mentz. "We appreciate the
teachable moments and refer to them throughout the year."
She says surveyors ask questions about the ways things are done in
her facility and give staff opportunity to explain how they relate to the
policies and procedures. "They even give us time to consult specific
policies, knowing our staff can't memorize every directive," she adds.
Ms. Mentz says most surveyors want you to do a good job. "They'll
share ideas and tools for doing things better," she explains. "We certainly get cited if something we're doing violates a standard, but they'll give
us education we can use to fix it, as opposed to saying it's your problem, go figure it out."
Some of Ms. Mentz's friends at other facilities complain that they
know more about the standards than the surveyors. That hasn't been
her experience. The surveyors she's encountered are highly skilled,
knowledgeable professionals with experience in the ambulatory environment, so they understand what her staff goes through and identify
with the same struggles. "That's nice," says Ms. Mentz, "because then
D E C E M B E R 2013 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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