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.

Duration of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recognition of the validity of an accrediting organization’s determination that a Medicare+Choice organization (M+CO) is “fully accredited.”

Some states use the findings of private accreditation organizations, in part or in whole, to supplement or substitute for state oversight of some quality-related standards. This is referred to as “deemed compliance” with a standard.

State requirement that managed care plans must be accredited to participate in the Medicaid managed care program.

To have a seal of approval. Being accredited means that a facility or health care organization has met certain quality standards. These standards are set by private, nationally recognized groups that check on the quality of care at health care facilities and organizations. Organizations that accredit Medicare Managed Care Plans include the National Committee for Quality Assurance, The Joint Commission, and the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission/Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC).

A facility that meets certain standards of quality. These standards are set by private, nationally recognized groups that check on the quality of care (staff and equipment) at health care facilities usually every 3 years. Accreditation can be awarded by two organizations: The Joint Commission and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The Joint Commission has six levels—the lowest is not accredited and the highest is accredited with commendation. AOA has several levels, the lowest level being denial of accreditation and the highest being accreditation with resurvey within 3 years. State or federal governments can recognize accreditation in lieu of, or as the basis for, licensure or other mandatory approvals.

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Official approval by The Joint Commission (TJC) that the hospital facility has met the quality and high standards after their scrutiny. TJC accredits clinics, hospitals, and other federal and military facilities. See Joint Commission, The .

Organization accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for the development, maintenance, and publication of electronic data exchange national standards. Also called X12.