An accredited facility is a facility that meets the strict national standards for equipment, safety, cleanliness, and staff credentials. Board-certified aesthetic plastic surgeons can safely perform aesthetic surgeries and procedures in accredited hospitals, surgicenters, or office-based surgical facilities.
If undergoing a procedure outside the hospital, the facility should be accredited by a recognized national agency such as the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities or the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). All facilities should be state-licensed, or Medicare certified.
While current published data shows that accredited office-based facilities have a safety record comparable to that of hospital ambulatory surgery settings, the majority of office-based surgical facilities are not accredited. That’s why it’s so important that you check that your surgeon only performs procedures at accredited facilities.
You should also be cautious about receiving nonsurgical procedures outside of a medical setting, such as in a private home or at a “party.” Nonsurgical procedures have risks too, and your provider should only perform these procedures at accredited facilities.
The Aesthetic Society requires all its members to operate in accredited, state-licensed, or Medicare-certified facilities. If you want to ensure your surgeon operates at an accredited facility, you can use our find a surgeon feature to search for a surgeon near you. You can also use this feature to check whether your surgeon is a member of The Aesthetic Society, and therefore, operates at an accredited facility.