AAHC earns CMS approval as national ASC accreditor
The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care announced that it has been awarded Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approval as a national accreditation organization for ambulatory surgery centers that request participation in the Medicare Deemed Status Accreditation program. This renewal underscores AAAHC’s long-standing commitment to high-quality patient care and regulatory compliance in the ambulatory surgery field.
AAAHC has held Medicare Deemed Status for ASCs since 1996, demonstrating leadership in promoting safety and quality within the ambulatory health care community. This renewal confirms that AAAHC’s Medicare Deemed Status Accreditation Standards continue to meet or exceed CMS’s rigorous requirements for accreditation organizations, ensuring ASCs uphold federal Standards, patient safety, and quality care.
The AAAHC Medicare Deemed Status Accreditation program is supported by a team of surveyors with ambulatory care experience, providing a peer-driven review process tailored to the unique needs of ASCs. As part of its mission to promote continuous improvement, AAAHC offers accredited facilities a range of educational resources and tools that provide actionable guidance to support operational success.
CommonSpirit ‘focusing heavily’ on ambulatory development
CommonSpirit Health added eight ambulatory care sites across six states in the first quarter of 2025 (three months ended Sept. 30), CFO Dan Morissette said on the system’s Dec. 2 investor call and Becker’s. The additions come after the system added 56 ambulatory sites in fiscal 2024, which ended June 30.
The system’s efforts to improve operating performance include volume growth, with an emphasis on expanding ambulatory services, improving network integrity, and capacity optimization for perioperative and imaging services, according to Becker’s.
Another part of that plan is labor cost management through the deployment of standard department staffing models, as well as reduced contract labor expenses.
$21M ASC to open in Iowa
A $21 million surgery center is coming to Ames, Iowa, as part of a partnership between Mary Greeley Medical Center and McFarland Clinic. Ames will be the only town in the region with an ASC. It will have 33 private rooms and a waiting room.
The 31,000-square-foot space will also feature six operating rooms and four endoscopy rooms. Currently, the facility sees two cases per week while it works toward Medicare accreditation.
Leaders anticipate earning accreditation in January, which will open up the ASC to see commercial providers like United Healthcare and Wellmark of Iowa.
When the ASC is fully operational in early 2025, it will provide ENT, gastroenterology, general surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, podiatry and urology services.