Veterinary Accreditation Catherine MacLean, DVM What to look for when you're looking for a vet

Veterinary Accreditation

Catherine MacLean, DVM - Grantham, NH

Did you know that, unlike human medical facilities, accreditation of veterinary facilities is not required? Did you know the standard of care varies from practice to practice? The American Veterinary Medical Association does guide the standard of care but has no ability to enforce those standards.

In 1933 a group of veterinarians got together and decided to form an organization called the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). Its mission is to promote high-quality care and to stay current with medical practices through accreditation and professional development. Becoming accredited is completely voluntary, and only about 15% of veterinary facilities in North America are accredited. In order to become accredited, over 900 standards of care need to be met, and the facility is inspected every three years. Inspections include reviewing of medical records and the facility by a member of AAHA.

When I opened my practice in 2013, it was a personal goal of mine to become AAHA accredited. I was doing most of the things that AAHA recommended, but I wanted to make sure my practice was doing all of the things that were necessary to make it accredited. AAHA accreditation makes a difference in the level of care we provide, as well as the environment of our practice. Accreditation encourages teamwork, accountability, high morale, consistency, and employee wellbeing. In short, it means we hold ourselves to a higher standard and have to work as a team to achieve it. When we hire staff that has worked at other veterinary practices, they are always impressed with the level of care we practice daily at our practice.

In 2016 we became the first AAHA accredited hospital in the Upper Valley. Now there are a total of two AAHA accredited hospitals in the Upper Valley. Being AAHA accredited takes the commitment of the whole veterinary team and can create more work for the Spring 2022

staff; but as a team, we made the commitment to continue practicing best medical practices. One example of how we hold ourselves to a higher standard is how we do anesthetic and surgical procedures. Every surgical patient gets an IV catheter so we have direct access to a vein in the case of an emergency, they are on IV fluids to help support blood pressure during the procedure, they have a dedicated nurse with them the whole time, and we monitor them using the same parameters a human anesthesiologist would use. Most of us would think this would be standard at any veterinary facility. Sadly, this is not always the case. Even record keeping varies from one veterinary facility to the next. I can’t tell you how often I get veterinary records from other practices, and there are no notes or very sparse notes. With AAHA we have to have a history, vital signs including a pain score, details on all the major systems (think eyes, ears, mouth, abdomen, skin, etc.) that we examine during an exam, our diagnosis, and what our plan is.

If your veterinarian is not AAHA accredited, it doesn’t mean that they are practicing outdated or subpar medicine. Being AAHA accredited means someone is holding the practice accountable for how we practice medicine. They are making sure there is a standard of care that is in the best interest of the patient and how they are being taken care of, and that the veterinary practice is staying current. To find out more about AAHA go to www.aaha.org.

Dr. MacLean completed her Bachelor of Science from Penn State University, her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Atlantic Veterinary College, and her pet acupuncture certification from Chi Institute. Her areas of special interest include general practice and acupuncture. She opened Sugar River Animal Hospital in 2013, and she has been practicing veterinary medicine since 2010. Dr. MacLean’s family consists of her husband Matt, her daughter Katarina, son Alexander and their three pets: Jack and Misty, two cats, and Arrow, a dog.