You may have heard of the American Animal Hospital Association (Aaha), but do you know what the organization really does?
Simply put, AAHA is constructed and continuously updates standards and guidelines that promote excellence in veterinary care and accredit veterinary clinics proving that they meet or exceed these standards.
Understanding how Aaha works can help pet parents to choose a veterinarian who is a good match for them.
Key dealers
- The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) establishes veterinary care standards and accredits animal hospitals that meet or exceed them.
- Aaha guidelines cover a wide range of subjects for pet health, including pain treatment, preventive care and illness treatment, which supports personal veterinary care.
- AAHA accreditation is a voluntary process that reflects a hospital's commitment to provide exceptional veterinary care in addition to basic legal requirements.
- Only 15% of veterinary hospitals are AAHA accredited, which makes the designation a meaningful indicator of high quality care.
What is aaha and what do they do?
The American Animal Hospital Association is a leading veterinary organization. It was founded in 1933, focusing on the creation of extensive standards to exercise veterinary medicine for companions.
Over the years, the organization's influence has only increased.
Among other roles, Aaha currently:
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Manages accreditation of veterinary hospitals in the United States, Canada and other parts of the world. Aaha provides training and conducts rigorous evaluations in place to ensure that hundreds of health care standards.
To put it easily, Aaha supports veterinary practice by providing resources and guidance to help them deliver quality care.
What distinguishes Aaha from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and other veterinary associations is its unique role as an accreditation body.
While organizations like AVMA focus on professional licensing and veterinary education, Aaha concentrates on internship standards and promotes optimal care at animal hospitals.
What are Aaha guidelines?
Aaha guidelines help veterinary professionals to provide the best medical and surgical care to pets. These evidence -based recommendations cover many important aspects of companions animal care, including:
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Handling specific diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, allergies, endocrine disorders and cancer
The guidelines for the American Animal Hospital Association are some of the most respected and implemented protocols in veterinary medicine, but they are not rigid rules for a size. Instead, they realize that each pet's lifestyle and risk factors affect their care needs, and veterinarians use the guidelines in combination with all other information they collect about the details in a patient's case to provide an individualized treatment plan.
The recommendations in these documents may also be helpful for pet parents.
For example, if your dog has been diagnosed with allergic skin disease and prescribed Apoquel (oclaciitinib), you can learn more about the medicine in 2023 AAHA management of allergic skin diseases in dogs and cat guidelines.
What does it mean to be AAHA accredited?
Aaha accreditation is one of the highest performance that a veterinary practice can serve. The accreditation process is both demanding and extensive. It usually takes a practice between two and six months to work through all the steps. When a veterinary practice has AAHA accredited, it must be routinely re-evaluated to maintain its accreditation.
All methods must meet or exceed mandatory standards that apply to their facilities, services offered, patient care and clinical protocols, involving:
Veterinary practice is also evaluated against certain additional standards (more than 900 in total) based on the type of care they provide. All of these standards have been compiled by experts in the associated areas and updated regularly.
Does all veterinary clinics, hospitals and offices need AAHA accredited?
AAHA accreditation in veterinary medicine is voluntary, and veterinary practice can legally function and serve the public without it.
The voluntary nature of AAHA accreditation makes it even more meaningful. When an animal hospital chooses to conduct accreditation, it makes a special commitment to excellence that goes beyond minimum requirements.
Of course, animal hospitals can still provide exceptional care without accreditation and serve their patients and clients well. Many compassionate and very skilled veterinarians work on non-accredited methods.
That being said, it is an easy way to know that the hospital has been evaluated by a third party to see the AAHA accredited logo on a veterinary practice.
Aaha common questions
What does Aaha stand for?
Aaha stands for the American Animal Hospital Association.
It is the only organization that accredits veterinary hospitals throughout the United States and Canada and provides similar services in other parts of the world.
How important is AAHA accreditation?
Only 15% of veterinary hospitals have undergone the severe AAHA accreditation process.
Although clinics that are not AAHA accreditors can certainly provide excellent medical and surgical care, AAHA-accredited hospitals are made by showing their commitment to fulfill or exceed the highest veterinary standards.
What are the Aaha guidelines?
The AAHA guidelines are extensive recommendations supported by the latest research that help veterinarians to provide optimal health care to pets.
They cover many aspects of companion animal care, including vaccination, anesthesia, pain treatment, nutrition and preventive care. The guidelines help veterinarians make the best possible recommendations for their patients based on the latest research and the unique needs and lifestyle factors of each pet.
