1. ACS Staff Perspective about the Accreditation Site Visit Process
Kathleen A Johnson, EdM
Senior Manager
ACS Program for Accreditation of Education Institutes
March 15, 2013
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

2. I have nothing to disclose for my presentation
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

3. Purpose of Presentation
Provide staff’s perspective as to what we have seen from the last seven years of applications that we have reviewed in preparation for site visits.
Provide lessons learned and tips to assist participants to prepare for creating an application with the Revised Standards and Criteria.
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

4. Objectives of the Presentation
By the end of the presentation, you should be able to:
Implement strategies to better prepare your AEI for its site visit
Utilize the “Lessons Learned” into the application process
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

5. Five Lessons Learned from a Staff Perspective in Preparing an Application
Team Effort
Less is More
Opportunity to be Reflect
Opportunity to Garner Additional Support
Surveyors and Staff are Your Advocates
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

6. It’s a Team Effort
Writing the application should not fall to one person
Get someone from the outside to read your application
Make sure your documentation supports what is described
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

7. In the Words of Mies van der Rohe… Less is More
Tell your story so the surveyors and reviewers can “see it” when they read it
Help surveyors and reviewers to not get lost in a lot of unrelated examples and paperwork
Be strategic in the examples used; can they be used more than once to demonstrate compliance
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

8. Hit the Pause Button
Completing your application is your opportunity to reflect on what your AEI is doing well
Critically look at what can be improved
An opportunity to identify where your AEI wants to go in the future
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

9. Garner Additional Support
Share the accreditation process with those that support your AEI
Have the principals read your application
Invite them to see your AEI in action
Get on their radar screen
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

10. Advocates for Your AEI Surveyors are your advocates for your AEI
Surveyors help to tell your story to the reviewer
ACS Staff are your partners
There is no such thing as a dumb question
Your success is our success
© 2013 American College of Surgeons

11. Thank you!
Questions??
© 2013 American College of Surgeons