U.S. Oral Surgery Management (USOSM) – a specialty management services company headquartered in Irving, Texas, and exclusively serves premier oral and maxillofacial surgeons – is launching the USOSM Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Centers of Excellence program. It aims to recognize USOSM partner practices that consistently deliver superior patient care and clinical excellence, encourage those characteristics in other practices, and spur additional practice growth. USOSM is the first company of its kind to launch a centers of excellence program like this.
“As the first and largest shared-services organization, dedicated solely to oral and maxillofacial surgeons, quality care has always been one of our guiding principles,” said USOSM President and CEO Richard Hall. “We established that in the beginning by partnering exclusively with board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and we’ve continued that commitment to excellence through several quality enrichment programs. The USOSM Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Centers of Excellence program is our latest quality initiative. It establishes another way to deliver and measure the quality of care that we provide our patients.”
As defined by the National Library of Medicine, centers of excellence are specialized programs within health care institutions that supply exceptionally high concentrations of expertise and related resources – such as leadership, best practices, research and training. All of this is focused on a specific medical specialty and used to support medical professionals and patients.
“Centers of excellence are not common in oral health, but they are common within the health care industry as a whole. Patients and referral sources understand that they signify exceptional quality, particularly when it comes to patient care,” noted Hall. “So having that designation, should be meaningful to patients and our referral sources.”
Hall added that only USOSM partner practices are eligible for the certification, but that it is not guaranteed to all that apply. He explained, “This is a merit-based distinction. Each partner practice must earn it and meet the criteria of our clinical governance board – otherwise, it has little value.”
Interested practices must apply, meet eligibility criteria, pass an inspection and receive approval from the USOSM Clinical Governance Board. Eligibility requirement categories include leadership, best practices, support or training for a specific area and expertise. One of the main areas of consideration is clinical excellence.
“Clinical excellence means more than just excellent outcomes. It’s also about patient-centered care, patient safety, performance improvement, interdisciplinary education, excellence in communication and maintaining the highest standards in ethics and professionalism,” said USOSM Chief Clinical Officer Vincent J. Perciaccante, DDS, FACS and immediate past president of American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS).
Each requirement has key performance indicators attached. They center on clinical excellence, patient experience, standardization/leveraging of best practices and assets, financial stability/performance, and guidance and governance.
In addition to internal review and approval, each practice will need to successfully complete an accreditation process overseen by a third-party partner. Once selected, that partner will provide additional oversight and help ensure the highest levels of quality control.
