MedStar receives national re-accreditation with perfect score
MedStar Mobile Healthcare, the exclusive ambulance service provider to Fort Worth and 14 other North Texas cities, has received re-accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) and for the third time, received a perfect score from the CAAS reviewers.
Of the approximately 2,500 licensed ambulance providers in North America, only 170 are CAAS accredited and MedStar is one of only 10 accredited ambulance services in Texas.
“CAAS accreditation signifies that the MedStar system has met the gold standard determined by the industry to be essential in a modern emergency medical services provider,” Douglas Hooten, MedStar’s chief executive officer, said in a news release. “This is another example of commitment to excellence on the part of every one of our team members.”
The 18-month application process included a comprehensive self-assessment and an independent outside review of MedStar operations, including a multi-day on-site review by national experts in emergency medical services.
In order to achieve accreditation, off-site and on-site reviewers analyzed every area of MedStar, including things like system operations, clinical protocols and quality assurance, outside patient satisfaction surveys, testing of emergency communication plans and back-up procedures, tracking and quality assurance of fleet maintenance, and assuring all employees are aware of all policies, the news release said.
In the letter notifying MedStar of the re-accreditation, the CAAS Board made special mention of MedStar’s achievement of a perfect score from the on-site reviewers, and of the numerous innovations implemented by MedStar that have become new benchmarks for EMS agencies nationwide.
“The MAEMSA Board is very proud of the MedStar team. This year, we received the Public Injury Prevention Award from the Texas State Department of Health Services and now our CAAS Re-Accreditation with a perfect score makes this an amazing year for Team MedStar,” said Dr. Brian Byrd, Fort Worth District 3 City Council Member and chairman of MedStar’s governing board, the Metropolitan Area EMS Authority.
CAAS is a non-profit organization established to encourage and promote quality patient care in America’s medical transportation system. CAAS’s standards often exceed state or local licensing requirements. The commission’s Board of Directors includes representatives of six national EMS-related organizations: American Ambulance Association, American College of Emergency Physicians, International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Association of EMS PHYSICIANS, National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and National Association of State EMS Directors with liaison representation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
– FWBP Staff