While surgery is a daily routine for us, we understand our patients it is a major life experience. And safety is our top priority for this experience. Each year we submit our Little Rock plastic surgery center for re-evaluation by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities for your safety. Like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval or a 5-star rating for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, AAAASF accreditation is a signifier of quality and safety, as well as a hallmark of a plastic surgeon who is serious about safety. The rigorous yearly evaluations cover a number of fine points, including several that directly make an impact on the patient’s experience.
Staff Credentials
Dr. Sloan is a board-certified plastic surgeon, but he’s not the only credentialed person in the room. He’s surrounded by a great team of highly trained and certified professionals, including Dr. Dan Robertson, an M.D. Anesthesiologist rather than a nurse anesthetist. And when the AAAASF evaluators begin their inspection, they confirm those credentials.
Protocols and Planning
Every AAAASF accredited facility must have detailed plans and procedures in place for emergencies, including fire and natural disasters. Thankfully these protocols are rarely, if ever, used but they are scenarios we’ve thought through and practiced so that we can keep our patients safe.
Drug Supplies
Have you ever poured a bowl of cereal only to discover that the milk is out of date or there’s none left? Part of our Little Rock plastic surgery center‘s accreditation hinges on our protocols regarding drug supplies and the quality of our instruments. We have systems in place to regularly check the amounts of drugs we have on hand, and their expiration dates. At any given time we know how many bowls we can fill and when we need to go shopping, so to speak. This level of detail extends to our equipment as well, and it is one of the reasons we have an extremely low infection rate and complication rates that are far lower than the national average.
Infection and complication rates are monitored and reported
Because they are monitored and reported, we can know a national average for these rates, and compare ourselves to them. That extra set of eyes on the daily workings of AAAASF facilities not only helps us tighten our procedures and identify issues before they become problems, they keep us on our toes. Patients know that by virtue of our accreditation that we have low rates of serious complications.
Checks, and more checks
While AAAASF accreditation is a tremendous validation of our commitment to patient safety, it is but one layer of many. For instance, Dr. Sloan is a board-certified plastic surgeon who has been evaluated for his knowledge and training in a particular discipline of medicine beyond his general surgery and medicine training. Further, he is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, organizations that only allow admittance based on peer-review, validation of training and the doctor’s use of accredited surgical facilities, which also validate the doctor.
You can learn more about your Little Rock Plastic Surgeon online, read patient reviews, and read patient feedback on review sites. In the end, we suggest you request a consultation and speak to Dr. Sloan in person. We hope to see you soon.
