Season's Greetings from CAAS

On behalf of the CAAS Board of Directors, the Panel of Commissioners and the CAAS staff, I want to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.  With 2010 behind us and a new year ahead, I want to thank all of our accredited agencies and site reviewers for their devotion to quality in the EMS industry.  Accreditation is a wonderful demonstration of the commitment you make to your patients, your employees and your community every day of the year. 

CAAS is equally commmited to you and your organization.  2010 was a year dedicated to education.  We rolled out new standards, and developed a variety of webinars, traditional classroom and On Demand educational sessions to educate and better prepare our accredted agencies, applicants and site reviewers.  2011 will be a year of enhancements.  We plan to launch our CAAS Accreditation Submission Portal (CASP), and will offer webinars on topics like Policy and Procedure Development,  Performance Improvement (CQI) Program Development, etc. designed to help agencies improve quality and prepare for accreditation.  Of course we will continue to offer our accreditation seminar and webinar sessions, as well. We look forward to working with all of you during 2011 and beyond.

Please extend a special thank you to all the men and women who will be working this holiday, and to any active military personnel that are serving during this holiday season.  We thank them all for their dedication and service.  Have a safe and happy New Year!

Warm Regards,
Sarah McEntee
Executive Director, CAAS

_________________________________________________________________________________

Stay Up to Date with CAAS Via Social Networking

 Have you visited any of our social media networking sites yet?  CAAS is now on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  Check in daily for the latest updates and announcements about CAAS and our accredited agencies.  Register for seminar and webinar sessions.  Share some of your photos and accomplishements with others, and join in on discussions related to CAAS accreditation.  Visit our sites by clicking the links below- and share with others to help us grow! 

_________________________________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Deadline for v2.5 Submissions is December 31, 2010

There are only two weeks remaining for agencies that intend to submit their CAAS accreditation application packages using version 2.5 standards. 

All initial and reaccreditaiton applications submitted after 01/01/2011 must be submitted on v3.0 only.   CAAS will not accept v2.5 appliations after this date.   Returned applications will not result in an extension of the agency’s existing expiration date.  Delays in proper submission could result in temporary loss of accreditation status.  Please confirm that your agency has converted to the new v3.0 standards that were distributed to you last January. 

If you have any questions regarding the new standards or the transition schedule, please contact CAAS staff at 847-657-6828.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Submission Date Reminder

With the increased number of agencies applying for accreditation, it is imperative that re-accrediting agencies submit their applications by their assigned in house due date.  Deadlines for submission are currently six months prior to your agency’s expiration date.  The entire six months is necessary to ensure your agency completes the full off and onsite process and is presented to the Panel of Commissioners before your expiration date.  Late submissions cannot be “fast-tracked”, and failure to submit your re-application materials to CAAS by the deadline will likely result in the temporary loss of accreditation status. 

Remember that accreditation is a process, not a project.  The process of monitoring your organization against the CAAS standards should not stop once you become accredited.  Resist the urge to shelve the CAAS standards until it is time to re-accredit.  Continue to evaluate and monitor your operation's procedures, forms, policies, reports and culture to ensure that your organization remains compliant with the standards.  A lot can change over the course of three years- make your re-accreditation easier by establishing routine CAAS check ups.  It is much easier to ensure that your routine organizational changes are CAAS compliant as you go along. 

Please plan enough time to properly assemble your application and documentation materials to ensure that your agency submits its re-accreditation materials on or before the submission deadline.   If you are uncertain of your agency’s submission due date, contact the CAAS office at 847-657-6828.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Recent CAAS Accreditations

In October, the CAAS Panel of Commissioners granted CAAS accreditation to two new agencies. Rib Mountain Fire Department (Wausau, WI) and Sedgwick County EMS (Wichita, KS) became two of our newest accredited agencies.  Additionally, Medic Ambulance (Vallejo, CA), MEMS (Little Rock, AR), and Emergency Medical Care (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) were all granted re-accreditation by the Panel. 

In December, the Panel of Commissioners granted re-accreditation to five agencies across the country.  Stamford EMS (Stamford, CT), Tri-Hospital EMS (Port Huron, MI),  Rockford Ambulance (Rockford, MI), Loveland-Symmes Fire Department (Loveland, OH) and ProMedica Transportation Network (Toledo, OH) were all granted re-accreditation.

Congratulations to all our initial and re-accrediting agencies for a job well done!

_________________________________________________________________________________

Number of Accredited Agencies Continues to Grow

As of December 2010, there are currently 142 accredited agencies representing 40 U.S. states, Canada and the West Indies.  CAAS is continuing to receive new applicants and application requests daily.  CAAS agencies report that during difficult economic times, obtaining and maintaining accreditation is more important than ever.  The CAAS accreditation process offers agencies a template for maintaining an efficient, well run organization that focuses on increased quality and efficiency while decreasing risk and liability across the entire spectrum of the organization. 

Physician Site Reviewers Needed

CAAS is currently seeking active EMS Medical Directors interested in serving as CAAS site reviewers.  If you know of a MD that might be interested in becoming a site reviewer, please contact the CAAS office at 847-657-6828 for additional information and application details.  
 

Due to a recent recruitment process, CAAS is not soliciting non-physician reviewers at this time.  Please check our website or social media sites for updates on future reviewer recruitment efforts. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Electronic Submission Update

We are pleased to announce that the CAAS Accreditation Submission Portal (CASP) is nearly ready for use. The goal of CASP is to translate  the CAAS accreditation submission process from a paper-based process to a completely online, digital process.  CASP is an online portal that agencies seeking accreditation can use across the entire accreditation processing lifecycle.  It was designed to meet the following objectives:

• Simplify the submission process for ambulance agencies by eliminating the need for them to send thousands of pages of paper.
• Shorten the time needed for an agency to prepare their accreditation materials.
• Provide for a more satisfying experience for the agency by enabling them to get more real time help to answer their accreditation-related questions.
• Save trees by reducing the use of paper.

How will it work?
CASP is an online portal that allows agencies to upload all of their CAAS-related documentation into an online repository.  An agency may start using CASP from the moment the agency decides to pursue accreditation.  CASP is organized to match the same structure as the CAAS Standards.  Agencies will be provided an account which will allow them to log into the Portal, where they will have their own private, secured area.  Within their CASP account, agencies can review all the standards, and when ready, can upload their required documentation into the system.  Once an agency has completed the process of uploading all their required materials, they can submit their application to CAAS via the Portal – at which point CAAS will review all the materials submitted and will provide feedback to the agency through the portal.

CAAS would like to thank all of the agencies that have beta tested components of the electronic submission process.  Your comments and suggestions have been invaluable to us as we work on the final stages necessary to bring this project together.  

 DO NOT send your application electronically to CAAS without pre-approval from the CAAS staff.  We know agencies are excited about the ability to submit electronically and save on paper and printing costs, and we are working as quickly as possible to make the process ready for use.  Until then, however, it is very important that you follow the submission directions exactly, and submit via traditional paper format until the electronic process is launched.  We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding.

_________________________________________________________________________________

 He completed a Fellowship in EMS at the University of Pittsburgh and works as an attending emergency physician at St. Clair Memorial Hospital. Dr. Traynor is the medical director of paramedic education at the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh. He sits on the Medical Director’s Committee of Pittsburgh’s EMS Service and is a medical advisor for four EMS agencies in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.  Dr. Traynor has served as a CAAS site reviewer since 1997. 

_________________________________________________________________________

CAAS Panel of Commissioners 2011 Schedule

Due to the increased number of applicant and accredited agencies, the panel  now meets bi-monthly.  The anticipated meeting schedule for 2011 is:

• March 7, 2011 
• April 25, 2011 
• June 27, 2011
• August 29, 2011
• October 31, 2011
• December 19, 2011

(These dates are subject to change)

 __________________________________________________________________________