The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, also known as the Accreditation Association or AAAHC , was formed in 1979 to assist ambulatory health care organizations improve the quality of care provided to patients. AAAHC is the leader in ambulatory health care accreditation and accredits more than 2500 organizations in a wide variety of ambulatory health care settings including ambulatory and office-based surgery centers, managed care organizations, and Indian and student health centers. With a single focus on the ambulatory care community, the Accreditation Association offers organizations a cost-effective, flexible, and collaborative approach to accreditation. The Accreditation Association’s mission is to maintain its position as the preeminent leader in developing standards to advance and promote patient safety, quality, value, and measurement of performance for ambulatory health care through peer-based accreditation processes, education, and research.