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91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ

Why 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ?

For 45 years, 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ has led the way in shaping standards and defining best practices related to quality improvement efforts and patient care for more than 2,000 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) across the nation. Organizations like yours have partnered with us to earn the highest recognition there is in ambulatory care accreditation — The Gold Seal of Approval® from 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ.

The Impact

There’s a reason why Joint 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ-accredited ambulatory surgery centers feel they’ve gone above and beyond to achieve patient safety and quality improvement goals. It’s because they have. Achieving Ambulatory Care accreditation not only enhances and objectively validates your performance reliability, it also:

  • Proactively minimizes risk areas for your clients, staff and brand
  • Creates a performance-focused competitive edge to help boost market share
  • Leverages a vetted framework to grow or expand services
  • Meets state/federal mandates or eligibility requirements for payers and network providers

Our Surveyor Team

Joint 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ employed surveyors are highly trained experts who are doctors, nurses, administrators, medical technologists and other professionals in a variety of healthcare settings, including ambulatory care. Based on your organization’s structure and needs, you’ll be matched with a survey team who understands the day-to-day issues that confront providers and have the hands-on expertise to help organizations resolve them. They aim to provide a productive and educational experience and offer the support your team needs to maintain excellence beyond the survey day.

As you prepare for your first ASC survey, learn what our ambulatory care surveyors have to say about how to plan for a successful survey experience.

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Learn more about our surveyors.

Meet our experts

Our Approach

Joint 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ accreditation isn’t just for hospitals. Our ASC-specific standards are a practical, industry-vetted framework to help you minimize risk and boost consistency in how care and services are delivered. Our requirements focus on key operational areas that most impact the safety and quality of personal care services, such as:

  • Staff competency
  • Patient assessment
  • Medication management
  • Infection control

Orthopedic Certification

Joint 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ is uniquely positioned to help your organization excel beyond accreditation with certifications that recognize your orthopedic specialty program. Options include core certifications for hip/ knee replacement and spinal surgery and Advanced Certification for Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement (THKR).

Expand Reimbursement

91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ works to establish and cultivate collaborative relationships with health plans, State Medicaid authorities and Medicaid managed care organizations. As these entities look to enhance provider quality, 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ increasingly has a role to play, through recognition of our accreditation or certification programs in new payment models. Below are examples specific to Ambulatory Surgery Centers:

  • Deemed Status for Ambulatory Surgery Centers Accreditation: 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ is designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as an approved accreditor for ASCs seeking Medicare certification, and can provide accreditation and Medicare certification simultaneously through its survey process. CMS, not 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ, grants the final decision for Medicare certification.
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield Association-Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care: Joint 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ Program: Advanced Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement Certification

In 2006, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) began Blue Distinction Specialty Care, a national designation program for various specific specialty care areas, with provider designations that are awarded by BCBSA’s independent licensees and local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. 91Ï㽶¶ÌÊÓƵ is recognized in the Blue Distinction program of Knee and Hip Replacement with our Advanced Total Hip and Knee Replacement certification.