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The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care was granted renewal of its "deemed status" to survey Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) for Medicare by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The formal announcement was published on November 14, 2008, in the Federal Register. The federal government continues to look for viable and cost-effective ways to assure quality health care delivery. One way the government has done this is by recognizing private accrediting organizations (AO) such as the Accreditation Association to perform much needed accreditation services. This is an excellent example of the new style of beneficial partnership possible between AOs and the government.

More Details on Deemed Status 
On July 23, 1996, CMS published a proposal to grant deemed status to the Accreditation Association for its accreditation of ASCs. The notice produced overwhelmingly supportive comments.

Then, on December 19, 1996, with CMS's publication of the final notice in the Federal Register of that date, ASCs accredited by the Accreditation Association were officially "deemed" to meet Medicare conditions of coverage (CfC) for ASCs. The deemed status notice became effective immediately. CMS recognizes surgery centers accredited by the Accreditation Association as being deemed to meet the Medicare CfC for ASCs. 

While CMS recognizes many AAAHC standards as being equivalent to the ASC CfC; there are also additional Medicare requirements that AAAHC does not require of organizations that do not choose an AAAHC/Medicare deemed status survey.

An AAAHC/Medicare Deemed Status survey is conducted for ASCs using AAAHC standards, most of which are equivalent to the CfC for ASCs, as well as the additional Medicare requirements identified at the ends of the following chapters in the AAAHC Handbook for Ambulatory Health Care:

     > Chapter   1, Right of Patients
     > Chapter   2, Governance
     > Chapter   4, Quality of Care Provided
     > Chapter   5, Quality Management and Improvement
     > Chapter   6, Clinical Records and Health Information
     > Chapter   7, Infection Prevention and Control and Safety
     > Chapter   8, Facilities and Environment
     > Chapter   9, Anesthesia Services 
     > Chapter 10, Surgical and Related Services
     > Chapter 11, Pharmaceutical Services
     > Chapter 13, Diagnostic and Other Imaging Services

The deemed status agreement represents a very positive option for new and existing surgery centers, in that they now have an option to their state agency review for Medicare certification. Other state licensing obligations, however, may continue to exist for many ASCs. 

Provided below are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about AAAHC/Medicare Deemed Status Surveys, which addresses many common questions regarding deemed status.

Please contact the Accreditation Association at
847/853.6060 if you have any further questions.

Medicare Enrollment Process
For information on the enrollment process to obtain Medicare certification, please visit the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services at:

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnroll/

Provided below is the 855 Enrollment Process, which describes the sequence of activities that will occur as an organization applies for Medicare certification. It is important to note that an organization that seeks an AAAHC/Medicare Deemed Status Survey must have already completed #6 before AAAHC can schedule a survey.