ABC Modernizes Facility Accreditation

Throughout ABC’s 56-year history, O&P professionals who steered the organization have pushed our profession to increase its body of knowledge and reshape the skills needed to be successful.

We have progressed to the point where the O&P facility is now an integral part of the O&P patient’s rehabilitation process, instead of being a mere “shop.”

ABC has modernized and intensified practitioner certification requirements to match the O&P practitioner’s more comprehensive role in patient care management.

Likewise, ABC’s facility accreditation has evolved into a well-respected credential earned by those O&P facilities that put patient care first.

A blueprint for businesses

ABC’s Facility Accreditation Program is recognized as a blueprint for running a contemporary O&P practice. The program offers recommendations for maintaining organizational records and patient charts and for running a smooth operation overall.

Through its on-site survey process, ABC accreditation provides facilities with an opportunity to discuss O&P care and operational norms with experts from the profession.

ABC surveyors are willing to share their knowledge to help you manage your facility in new ways. For example, at one site our surveyor identified unbilled services in excess of $20,000. This led the facility manager to implement a new chart-audit system.

Facility accreditation continues to evolve and improve. Striving to recognize current best practices in O&P, ABC’s Accreditation Program encourages participants to establish an environment offering optimal patient care.

New emphasis is placed on the importance of Quality Assessment and Improvement (QAI).

To promote a more complete understanding of this concept, ABC’s Facility Accreditation Committee is exposing participants to it through the on-site survey process. Additionally, we provide continuing education at national and local professional meetings.

The Facility Accreditation Committee has worked with O&P practitioners and received input from various other sources, including physicians, third-party payers and patients.

As a result, facility accreditation standards have been streamlined, and redundancies have been removed. Standards related to federal regulations are provided as a resource for accredited facilities, but facilities are not evaluated on compliance details they are already required to perform for the government.

Additionally, many sections of ABC’s Facility Accreditation Program have been consolidated. And, the “Supplier Compliance” and “Professional Staff” sections have been eliminated.

Testing, testing

For the first time in our Accreditation Program, we have put our standards and scoring system through a psychometric validation process. This means we have invested the time and resources necessary to evaluate our Accreditation Program with third-party psychometricians and O&P experts to ensure that our program is current and applicable to the modern-day O&P operation.

This extra level of validation further enhances the value of our accreditation program. We know that we are asking you to make an investment when you seek facility accreditation, and we strive to make your investment a sound one.

Plenty of benefits

Accreditation has many benefits: consistency in operations, documented proof of compliance with high standards, online listings and additional referrals.

Another important benefit is that, in many states, more and more third-party payers are requiring facility accreditation before they will pay claims. And these payers are becoming more selective due to ABC’s ongoing efforts in educating them about the benefits of ABC accreditation.

Part of our campaign includes a new three-year agreement with Dorland Healthcare. The company will market ABC accreditation and accredited facilities to insurance decision makers and case managers.

A sound business decision

There are many benefits, but is ABC facility accreditation cost effective?

We’ve learned that the average O&P facility pays an annual liability insurance premium of about $10,000.

Cailor Fleming insurance company and its underwriters acknowledge the standards espoused in ABC’s Accreditation Program and even offer a 10 percent premium discount for ABC-accredited facilities.

This premium discount makes ABC accreditation not only a sound decision for quality patient care, but also a sound business decision.

Accreditation is not intended to be difficult, just thorough. Every facility that is serious about O&P patient care should be ABC accredited. Is yours?

For more information on facility accreditation, call (703) 836-7114 or visit www.abcop.org.