AAHA Chief Executive Officer, Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, DABVP (Emeritus) and PetWell Partners Co-Founder David Murvin PetWell Partners, a Houston-based national veterinary practice network, has become the first organization to earn practice network accreditation from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). AAHA’s practice network accreditation is a new model for assessing and recognizing excellence throughout an organization owning and/or operating multiple veterinary practices. Under this model, the parent company receives accreditation, rather than the individual practices within the network. “As the trend of corporate ownership increases throughout the profession, there is an opportunity to standardize best practices for delivery of care to improve patient health, while helping these companies promote excellence throughout the practices within their network,” said Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, DABVP (Emeritus), CEO of AAHA. To become accredited under the new model, an eligible organization must meet new standards that are separate from AAHA’s traditional medical standards and designed to evaluate business operations at the network level. The standards cover medical autonomy, leadership, culture, human capital management, marketing and communications, financial management, and stewardship of the veterinary profession. For an organization to be eligible, 90 percent or more of its practices must be accredited or pre-accredited according to the AAHA Standards of Accreditation, with the intent to have 100 percent of the company’s practices earn accreditation.
