Mark Spina, the executive director of Ambulatory Surgery Centers of America, spoke with Becker's ASC Review on how the physical site of an ASC is where most accreditation mistakes are made.
Question: What's the most common accreditation mistake you see made in ASCs?
Mark Spina: Most accreditation mistakes that happen in an ASC are physical plant related.
The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care and Joint Commission rely heavily on the National Fire Protection Code to regulate the physical plant. This means the ASC must keep logs on everything from fire extinguisher inspections to emergency exit sign testing. The key is to keep complete and consistent logs. As one inspector from the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers told me, if it's not documented clearly and consistently, it didn't happen.
Other hot buttons are pressure gradients in "dirty rooms" (negative) and operating rooms (positive), as well as sprinkler systems, [ground fault circuit interrupter] outlets, emergency lighting, elevator inspections, door and door frame inspections, equipment biomedical checks, etc.