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A C C R E D I T A T I O N
how they want it.
Ms. Cannizzaro says there's some frustration with continually churning out the same paperwork and monitoring the same indicators.
"That being said, I will continue to maintain accreditation in my facility," she adds. "I care enough to participate and will always choose
providers that also care enough."
Money well spent?
"The goal of accreditation is to keep us in compliance with CMS regulations," says Imelda Kelly, RN, director of regulatory compliance at the
Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center in Phoenix, Ariz. "It's a very valuable service, but entirely too costly." Thirty-six percent of surveyed
readers — the highest percentage of responses — spend between
$5,000 and $10,000 to renew accreditation. It costs Ms. Mentz $3,200 to
renew her facility's accreditation each year, plus another $5,000 for triennial surveys. For her, it's money well spent.
"Surveyors typically don't ask us to do things that don't make sense
or that aren't a good process," she says. "We're always trying to find
ways to improve, and we're able to look at our own practices and find
ways to meet our accreditors' goals. We're probably already doing
things right, but the standards make us tighten them up a bit. They
keep us in check." OSM
E-mail dcook@outpatientsurgery.net.
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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 | D E C E M B E R 2013