NAMES IN THE NEWS

AAAHC Releases New Pain Management Toolkit

JULY 8, 2025

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) released its new Pain Management for Ambulatory Surgery Care Toolkit, a comprehensive resource designed to help healthcare professionals address one of the most persistent challenges in outpatient surgery: safe and effective pain control, according to a release. The new toolkit provides evidence-based strategies to reduce opioid reliance, promote patient education and integrate procedure-specific interventions across the perioperative care continuum.

Ambulatory surgeries account for 60–65 percent of all surgeries in the US, increasingly placing responsibility on outpatient facilities to implement safe and consistent pain management practices, according to the release. Ineffective pain control can lead to recovery complications, such as delayed discharge, readmission and prolonged opioid use.

“AAAHC is committed to empowering healthcare professionals with the tools necessary to deliver quality every day,” said Noel Adachi, president and chief executive officer of AAAHC, in the release. “Our new pain management resource reflects the latest clinical evidence and sets the standard for enhancing recovery and improving postoperative outcomes in ambulatory surgery.”

The toolkit emphasizes multimodal pain management strategies, including nonopioid medications, regional blocks and nonpharmacologic therapies. To help organizations apply these best practices consistently, the toolkit includes a series of practical checklists, according to the release.

“Inadequate pain control remains a serious issue in outpatient care,” said Julie Lynch, director of the AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement, in the release. “Our new toolkit equips ambulatory surgery teams with evidence-based guidelines to reduce opioid use, minimize complications and enhance the recovery experience for patients.”

Find this new toolkit on AAAHC’s Quality Institute Toolkits webpage.