Accredited Veterinary Hospital Scheme

Firstly, read the Manual of Hospital Standards and Accreditation to learn about the standards you'll need to meet, then contact the Australian Small Animal Veterinarians Group office to register your interest in the scheme.  The office will create a dedicated account for your practice and will provide login information to allow your practice to browse the digital accreditation platform and even start the accreditation process.

To obtain a copy of the ASAV Manual of Hospital Standards and Accreditation, please contact us via the contact form below.

The accreditation/reaccreditation is conducted online and involves the online completion and submission of all forms and records by 31^st October, the year prior to hospital inspection. It's important to involve all members of staff and set aside sufficient time for planning and preparation. The dedicated account for the digital accreditation can be shared with staff at your practice to enable them to login and complete the task/s they have been assigned.

Along the way, the digital accreditation platform will send email reminders to the nominated email address at your practice. This will help ensure your practice is on track to achieving the 31^st October timeframe.

Once your application is received the Australian Small Animal Veterinarians Group Office will invoice you for the accreditation fee.  Your medical and radiology records will be reviewed shortly after submission and you will then be contacted to organise the date of the on-site inspection following assessment of these records.

Inspections generally take place between February and May; the inspector will contact you to organise a suitable date and time. The time taken for inspection varies but is usually between three to four hours. It is expected that the building, equipment, staff, records and standards of patient care will be maintained to the same high standard throughout the period of accreditation as on the day of inspection. 

Inspections will be completed in time for the ASAV Annual Conference where accreditation plaques are presented at the Gala Awards dinner.

The ASAV Accredited Veterinary Hospital Scheme is largely self-funding.  The costs currently involved in accreditation cover records assessment by the relevant specialists, administration of the scheme, and costs involved for the onsite inspection.

Initial Accreditation: $3,060 incl GST

Reaccreditation: $2,505 incl GST

Initial Accreditation of a Satellite Practice: $2,020 incl GST

Reaccreditation of a Satellite Practice: $1,655 incl GST

If a medical records inspector requires additional records to be submitted: $315 incl GST (per resubmission of records)

If a radiology records inspector requires additional records to be submitted: $315 incl GST (per resubmission of records)

If an on-site inspector identifies significant deficiencies that can be readily corrected, and a repeat site inspection is required to evaluate them:
$1,605 incl GST for the additional inspection

To help make the process as straightforward as possible, the digital accreditation platform provides information and user guides that will step you through the process. We also recommend using the ‘Preparation Checklist for Accreditation’ internally to enable your practice to track each stage of the accreditation process, including who tasks have been assigned to, when they were assigned and the date of completion. However, if you are having difficulty at any time you can speak with the staff at the Australian Small Animal Veterinarians Group.

For further information see 'Procedure for Submission of Applications & Inspection' in the ASAV Manual of Hospital Standards and Accreditation, which can be obtained via the 'contact us' form below.

This very much depends on the quality of the materials presented by the applicant. Every endeavour is made to make this a smooth and timely process. However, in some instances, the inspectors may ask for further information from the hospital.

The accreditation plaques are presented during the Gala Awards Dinner at the Australian Small Animal Veterinarians Group Annual Conference.

Hospitals are accredited for four years (in most instances) and then must apply for re-accreditation. Occasionally, hospitals are given a one-year provisional accreditation and then have to demonstrate an improvement to be granted an additional three-year term.

For further information, contact the Australian Small Animal Veterinarians Group office on 1300 137 309 or via the 'contact us' form below.