Ambulatory Care Solutions

Reduce spend on supplies and extend capital budgets; advance infection prevention and control (IPC) policies and procedures; and improve staff and patient safety in ambulatory care.

It is estimated that within 10 years, care delivered in an ambulatory setting is expected to grow to 32% of all care delivered across healthcare settings. This increase represents an average growth of 12% per year, with meaningful differences across specialties. As more care and procedures shift to ambulatory settings, providers and leaders must navigate complex challenges to assure clinical, financial, and operational health. ECRI understands the immense pressure you face to contain costs, assure patient and staff safety, meet regulatory compliance, and remain profitable to fund growth.

ECRI's comprehensive suite of tools and services provides the data, insights, and experts for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), physician practice groups, orthopedic groups, imaging centers, radiology groups, urgent care, and retail care to inform decision-making, optimize the supply chain, and advance clinical outcomes. We provide the knowledge and assurance to support your purchasing decisions and safety initiatives.

Our team of ambulatory care experts work together with you to help you:

• Reduce spend on supplies and maximize capital equipment budgets
• Prevent and mitigate the risk of infection and potential harm
• Improve quality and keep staff and patients safe

Our ambulatory care experts work with providers to develop customized solutions that address their unique needs and challenges.

Reduce spend on supplies and capital

Drive real savings and better understand all of your costs, product capabilities, price benchmarking, and sophisticated market analytics with purchasing assurance.

Purchasing Assurance helps you:

• Reduce spend on supplies and capital
• Drive better decisions on new product introductions
• Choose appropriate capital equipment for facility openings or expansions
• Evaluate the performance of supplies and equipment with information from our independent lab to make decisions based on value, not just on cost

Utilize ECRI's robust price database to benchmark what peers paid on more than 2 million unique consumable supplies, capital, and implants, at five price points. Reduce variation and enhance continuity of care by identifying opportunities to standardize across products, vendors, prices, or your practice. Proactively identify potential disruptions or harmful products and identify safe alternatives for supplies, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.

Gain clinical alignment on evidence-based procedures, products, and technologies with independent clinical, technical, and evidence assessments; product comparison data; and patient safety content. Make safe, cost-effective decisions faster, without compromising care.

Proactively address infection prevention and control (IPC) risk

Enhance your IPC policies and procedures, proactively assess your risk, and implement evidence-based improvements to enhance patient and staff safety.

ECRI experts’ partner with you to analyze your organization's culture, infrastructure, practices, systems, and technology to identify gaps and provide guidance to make meaningful improvements with programs such as:

• Processing function for high-level disinfection and sterilization of medical equipment, review of instrumentation, and sterilization audits
• Processes for prescribing, dispensing, and administering medication
• Preparedness for infectious outbreaks and root cause analysis
• Surveillance programs, infection reporting, and action plans

Certified infection preventionists can conduct on-site or virtual consultations. Experienced and specialized experts across multiple disciplines from engineers, epidemiologists, accident/forensic specialists, and patient safety experts work with you to support your needs and help you offer a better quality of care and improve infection prevention strategies moving forward.

Drive patient safety enhancements, improve outcomes, and enhance accreditation readiness

Establish the infrastructure needed to proactively improve care, quickly address adverse events, and prevent revenue loss with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Patient Safety Organization (PSO).

Advancing a culture of quality and safety will enable you to:

• Evaluate specific areas of concern, implement best practices, and develop sustainable action plans
• Stay ahead of patient safety challenges, share insights with peers, and collaborate on patient safety risks and solutions in a safe space
• Identify and address the root causes of adverse events, near misses, and unsafe conditions
• Report and learn from adverse events in a legally protected environment

Gain access to a dedicated liaison providing depth and breadth of expertise through evidence-based research support and data analysis to help you solve complex challenges and address your toughest questions. Utilize our analytics dashboard to access facility- and system-specific data, better analyze adverse event data, compare trends to identify opportunities for improvement, forecast outcomes, identify and address patient safety issues, and develop quality improvement plans aimed at reducing adverse events.

Manage risk throughout your practice with actionable tools, evidence-based guidance, and practical strategies. ECRI's ambulatory care risk management helps you stay informed about regulatory changes and best practices, create real safety improvements, and reduce risk. Access data from more than 3.5 million analyzed adverse events through ECRI and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices PSO, including device evaluations, incident investigations, proactive risk assessments, medication safety, and the insights of safety, risk, and quality experts.

Patient safety in ambulatory care is a key priority for ECRI, and we offer a range of tools and services to help providers proactively manage risk and promote the delivery of safe, high-quality care.

Interested in learning more?

Set up a consultation with an ECRI expert to learn how to maximize supply chain budget, improve IPC policies and procedures, and advance quality and safety performance.

Insight resources

• Ask ECRI: Risk Considerations in Adopting New Technologies or Procedures
• Medical Device Reporting in Ambulatory Care: The 10-Day Reporting Requirement
• Event Reporting in Ambulatory Care