Articles
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Ambulatory Surgery Center: Ensuring Anesthesia Machine Safety
When a patient must undergo a procedure that requires anesthesia, a crucial step in ensuring patient safety is to conduct a thorough check of the anesthesia machine to be certain the components are in proper working order. ACHC Standards address maintenance requirements. (article continues)

Ambulatory Surgery Center: Patient Comfort and Safety Can Be Found in the Air
Keeping patients comfortable and safe is part of high-quality health care. And that goes beyond medicines and procedures. Maintaining appropriate temperature, humidity, and airflow makes the environment comfortable and helps prevent infection. Your organization can use best practices to develop a monitoring program.

Pharmacy: Include All Staff in Survey Preparation
Pharmacies often rely on one person to be responsible for all accreditation survey preparations. This may fall to the pharmacist in charge, owner, or designated compliance staff member. This may fall to the pharmacist in charge, owner, or designated compliance staff member.

Pharmacy: Do Your Part for a Successful Survey
Your survey for ACHC Pharmacy Accreditation is a collaborative effort between the Surveyor and your organization. Each is responsible for performing certain duties to collectively ensure a successful survey experience.

Understanding Emergency Readiness
Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) Standards Manuals address emergency preparedness for deemed and non-deemed ambulatory surgery centers.

Coming Soon: Revisions to USP <795>, <797>
Many in the pharmacy industry welcome news that the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) plans to publish revised standards for USP General Chapters <795> and <797> on November 1, 2022. The announcement comes more than three years after USP first published proposed revisions in 2019.

Preparing for the End of the COVID-19 PHE
On July 15, Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, extended the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration for another 90 days. One month later, on August 18, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a blog titled, “Creating a Roadmap for the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.”

Pinch of This, Dash of That? Compounding Medications Takes an Exacting Recipe
Compounded medications provide customized solutions for specific patient needs, such as a liquid dosage form instead of a pill, and are gaining greater acceptance for the benefits and flexibility they offer.

COVID Vaccination Compliance Review
ACHC is surveying certain Medicare-certified organizations for compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Is an H&P Required? You have Options
A comprehensive medical history and physical assessment (H&P) may be conducted prior to surgery at an ambulatory surgery center (ASC).