FAQ

• What is Accreditation?

  Accreditation is an arms-length third-party process that assesses a facility’s compliance with global standards for safety and promotes the facility’s ongoing compliance with those standards. QUAD A programs have been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the various states that regulate office-based practices, and internationally by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare, therefore facilities accredited by QUAD A are part of a network of facilities all over the globe that have committed to and practice in the safest manner possible. An accredited facility must demonstrate compliance with all applicable standards. It must meet our strict requirements for organizational oversight, operating policies and protocols, general safety, supplies and equipment, medications, patient records, personnel, anesthesia (if applicable), quality improvement, and emergency preparedness during a thorough survey by an QUAD A surveyor. An accredited facility must be fully equipped to provide services in the medical specialty or specialties listed on its accreditation application, for which the providers must have appropriate training, and must be equipped to respond to emergencies.

  This program, developed through AAPD-QUAD A collaboration, demonstrates the commitment by pediatric dentists to provide safe environments in which to treat children and is designed for practices interested in making demonstrable safety a priority in their delivery of care.

• Who is Eligible to Apply for Accreditation?

  Pediatric Dentistry accreditation is intended for ambulatory facilities performing the following dental procedures on pediatric patients under sedation or general anesthesia:

  Dentoalveolar

  • Extractions (simple & complex)
  • Dental Restorations
  • Pulpal Treatment
  • Soft Tissue Graft
  • Frenuloplasty
  • Frenectomy

  Trauma

  • Hard and Soft Tissue Trauma
  • Lacerations
  • Hard Tissue Dental Fractures including Alvelous

  Pathology

  • Hard and Soft Tissue
  • Management of Odontogenic Infection
  • Soft and Hard Tissue Biopsy

  Space Maintenance

   

• What is the Cost of Accreditation?

  View the Fee Schedule document to learn more about the cost of accreditation.

• How Long Does it Take to Become Accredited After You Apply?

  Once your application for accreditation is complete and your floor plan is approved, the QUAD A staff can usually secure a surveyor to evaluate your facility as quickly as within 30 days, although QUAD A cannot guarantee a survey within 30 days. Historically, most facilities fully achieve accreditation 90 to 150 days after submitting a complete application.

• Who Performs the Facility Surveys?

  Surveyors are dental and medical specialists dedicated to the peer-based accreditation process that gives QUAD A national and international recognition as the gold standard in accreditation. This means that another pediatric dentist or an anesthesia provider that works in pediatric dentistry will be performing the survey. In certain circumstances, some specialized surveys may be conducted by a registered nurse that practices in a pediatric dental facility. In any event, the surveyor will be a peer working in the same type of setting as you.

• How Will Accreditation Benefit My Practice?

  Accreditation has many benefits to your practice:

  • demonstrate a commitment to providing safe environments in which to treat children.
  • give patients a level of assurance that you have made patient safety your top priority.
  • standardize quality measurement.
  • collaborate with other healthcare leaders.
  • differentiate your office from those who cannot or will not meet standards or who do not have the required training to meet the standards.
  • contribute to scholarship and academic research to quantify safety and investigate causes for adverse events
  • promote your facility in the marketplace by subjecting yourself to a rigorous examination

  This process sends a clear message to patients and regulators that AAPD and your facility are fully committed to the safety of your patients.

• What Materials Need to be Submitted When I Apply for Accreditation?

  Application

  Facility Identification Form

  Staff Identification Form

  HIPAA Business Associate Agreement

  Anesthesia Validation Form

  A floor plan or diagram of the facility clearly labeling rooms, including Operating Room, Prep/Scrub area, clean room/area, Dirty room/area, PACU/Recovery Room, etc. (does not need to be to scale and must clearly identify each room purpose and dimensions)

  Copy of each dentist/physician/surgeon's State Medical License

  Copy of each dentist/physician/surgeon's Board Certificate or letter of admissibility by the certifying board (not required for facilities outside of the USA)

  Copy of each dentist/physician/surgeon's delineation of Hospital Privileges (approved list of procedures from the hospital)

• What Makes QUAD A Unique as an Accreditation Organization?

  QUAD A is unique among accreditation organizations because they:

  • hold outpatient facilities to the highest standards.
  • require the use of qualified anesthesia professionals for deeper levels of anesthesia.
  • work closely with facilities to provide assistance throughout the accreditation process.
  • require a safe and clean care environment that meets stringent standards.
  • mandate patient safety data reporting to track data for thousands of individual cases.
  • champion patient safety worldwide and have for 40 years.
  • require 100% compliance with all standards, no partial approval
  • collect evidence of completed corrections prior to conferring accreditation, others confer accreditation upon the submission of a plan to correct