Understanding Surgery Facility Accreditation

Your surgeon can operate in a hospital operating room or in an independent surgery facility, usually called an Ambulatory Surgery Center.

You can check if the facilities are accredited by an independent national organization such as the AAAASF, JCAHO, Medicare, or AAAHC. Accreditation ensures that the operating room meets required criteria and the facility meets standards of staffing, licensing, equipment, certification, and layout standards.

Operating rooms in an existing doctors office or a free-standing operating facility should be at the same high standards you would expect to find in a hospital.

Non-hospital operating rooms provide only out-patient surgical services and normally do not provide on-going 24-hour care within the surgical facility. They do provide increased privacy, better access to your surgeon and specialized personal care.

See the graphic below to learn more about outpatient surgery centers.

understanding surgery facility accreditation