title: The Need for Accreditation of Office-Based Interventional Vascular Centers.
abstract: The rise in office-based interventional vascular laboratories in recent years was prompted in part by expedient ambulatory patient experience and favorable outpatient procedural reimbursement. While studies have shown that clinical safety and treatment efficacy can be achieved in office-based vascular facilities, critics have raised various concerns due to inconsistent patient care standards and lack of organizational oversight to ensure optimal patient outcome. Available literature showed widely varied clinical outcomes which were partly attributable to nonuniform standards in reporting clinical efficacy and adverse events. In this report, various concerns and pitfalls of office-based interventional vascular centers are discussed. Strategies to improve patient care delivery in office-based laboratories including accreditations which serve as external validation of processes to ensure patient care and safety are also mentioned. Finally, the requirements to obtain accreditation in an office-based practice and the differences between these nationally recognized accrediting organizations are discussed herein.
authors.affiliation: Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; Department of Vascular Surgery, University Vascular Associates, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
authors.forename: Fiona A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Fred E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Miami Hospital, Miami, FL.
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Osman
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Urman
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, University Vascular Associates, Los Angeles, CA; Department of Vascular Surgery, DFW Vascular Group, Dallas, TX. Electronic address: ssahn100@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Samuel S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards*; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000592:standards*; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards*; D002568:Certification / Q000592:standards*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards*