Surgical Facility and Safety New York City and New Jersey

Dr. Mesa, a triple fellowship–trained Board Certified Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon performs most surgical procedures Saint Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center (SBMC ACC), Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), Paramus Surgery Center, and NYC 5th Avenue Millennium Surgery Center. All these surgical faculties are fully accredited by American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) or Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

All the anesthesiologists that provide anesthesia services are certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology with training and certification in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS). Please request the name of the anesthesiologist assigned to your case to verify their board certification. The AAAASF was established in 1980. Its primary mission is to ensure the highest quality patient care in the ambulatory surgery setting. Today, with more than 550 accredited outpatient surgical facilities, the not-for-profit AAAASF is the largest accrediting organization of its kind in the United States.

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), known as ‘The Joint Commission’ is an independent, not-for-profit organization, that accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.

These days, having surgery requires not just selecting your surgeon, but also selecting where to get your surgery!

AAAASF and JCAHO have designed an accrediting program to help provide patients with the assurance of safety and quality in all aspects of their outpatient surgery experience. To achieve this goal, every AAAASF-accredited and JCAHO-accredited hospital or ambulatory surgery facility must meet stringent national standards for equipment, operating safety, personnel and surgeon credentials. The experts at AAAASF and JCAHO know that maintaining safety and quality in the hospital and ambulatory surgery facility is a dynamic process, requiring constant review and revision of standards to reflect the current state-of-the-art.

The vast majority of ambulatory surgery facilities, especially those where Internists, Obstetrician, Gynecologists, Primary Care Physicians, Dentists and plastic surgeons wannabe” perform “cosmetic surgery” are unaccredited, operating independent of any peer review and inspection process. This significantly can affect the safety of the patients undergoing cosmetic surgery procedures.

A growing number of states throughout the country, however, are recognizing the need for mandatory accreditation. AAAASF and JCAHO are in the forefront of legislative efforts to provide patients with safety and quality assurance in the outpatient surgery setting.

All AAAASF-accredited and JCAHO-accredited facilities must:

  • Comply with applicable local, state, and federal regulations including fire safety, sanitation and building codes for the protection of patients and medical personnel.
  • Utilize advanced instruments and monitoring devices for patient safety during surgery and in the recovery period.
  • Adhere to federal laws and regulations affecting their operation such as OSHA blood-borne pathogens standards, hazardous waste standards, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Allow surgery to be performed only by qualified surgeons who have privileges to perform the same surgical procedures in an accredited hospital. Surgeons must meet the standards, such as peer-review and continuing medical education, required for operating in an accredited hospital. Surgeons must be certified (or eligible for certification) in surgical specialties recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. This is an important distinction between AAAASF and JCAHO versus other organizations that may not require this high standard of qualifications for physicians operating within their accredited facilities.
  • Provide for the administration of general anesthesia, when appropriate, by a board-certified or board-eligible anesthesiologist or a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Other personnel assisting in surgery and providing care for the patient in the recovery room include specially trained and certified surgical technicians, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses.
  • AAAASF and JCAHO are committed to quality assurance and peer-review.

AAAASF and JCAHO rigorously inspect and evaluate each facility seeking accreditation to ensure that it meets the highest standards.

After accreditation is achieved, AAAASF and JCAHO require an annual in-house evaluation to identify any areas that may need improvement. Every three years, a formal site inspection is performed by a trained AAAASF or JCAHO representative.

AAAASF-accredited and JCAHO-accredited facilities are continually monitored and improved through the analysis of individual facility performance compared to established standards.

One of the innovative ways in which AAAASF and JCAHO evaluate patient care and cost containment is through its documented quality assurance and peer-review program.

The bottom line is that AAAASF or JCAHO accreditation is today’s best assurance of safety, quality and efficiency in the outpatient surgery environment. It is a program that has achieved wide recognition from the medical community, state legislatures, state and national health care agencies, insurance companies and patients. So, for your cosmetic plastic surgery in New Jersey and New York City area, you should be sure that the hospital or surgery center where your procedure will be performed is AAAASF-accredited or JCAHO-accredited.

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