AABB perioperative accreditation is AABB's accreditation of a hospital's perioperative autologous blood services, such as intraoperative and postoperative blood recovery and acute normovolemic hemodilution, assessed against the AABB Standards for Perioperative Autologous Blood Collection and Administration. The 11th edition is in force from January 1, 2025, and the 12th edition takes effect January 1, 2027. Integral Healthcare Solutions (IHS) drafts the agreements, records and quality procedures for perioperative blood accreditation; your clinicians own collection and administration.

Last reviewed: October 2026.

What is AABB perioperative autologous blood accreditation?

AABB states that the standards outline "requirements for the delivery of perioperative services by a facility's anesthesiologists, perfusionists, surgeons, transfusionists, and other relevant professionals." It describes the services covered: "Hospital perioperative autologous transfusion services perform intraoperative and postoperative autologous blood recovery, perioperative autologous component production, and/or intraoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution, including product collection, storage and administration" (AABB, Perioperative Standards).

The governing texts:

• AABB Standards for Perioperative Autologous Blood Collection and Administration, 11th edition, effective January 1, 2025, on a revision cycle of "24 months (January of odd numbered years)."
• The 12th edition. AABB notes: "The 12th edition of Standards for Perioperative Autologous Blood Collection and Administration, effective January 1, 2027 is available for purchase now."
• The AABB Accreditation Activities list, Version 3, effective 4/2/2026, which defines the Perioperative Activity as "A location or operational area within a facility where any of the following activities are performed by the facility's staff or contract personnel: intraoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution; collection, storage, and administration of autologous blood products and components obtained during intraoperative and postoperative autologous blood recovery; perioperative autologous component production."

Who needs it and what triggers it

The program is for hospitals. AABB lists the Perioperative Activity among the activities for hospitals performing transfusion services: "Transfusion Activity", "Transfusion Apheresis and/or Autologous Activity", "Perioperative Activity" and "Donor Center- Hospital Blood Bank" (AABB, Transfusion Services). AABB's activity definition covers work performed "by the facility's staff or contract personnel"; the pages reviewed do not say whether a contracted provider can hold the accreditation in its own name.

The events that usually start the work:

• A first application, or adding the Perioperative Activity to an existing AABB accreditation. AABB's process has "two phases ... for the first time or adding a new activity: the self-assessment phase, followed by the on-site assessment phase" (AABB).
• The edition change. The 12th edition takes effect January 1, 2027, and procedures written to the 11th edition will need checking against it.
• The two-year cycle. AABB states that an accredited facility "must go through the accreditation process (on-site assessment phase) every two years."
• A new or changed service arrangement, such as bringing in a contracted cell-salvage or perfusion provider.

Timing: "The majority of facilities complete both the initial self-assessment phase and the on-site assessment phase in 1 – 2 years." A facility "must be in operation for a minimum of 6 months (in the desired accreditation activity) before the initial accreditation process can begin" (AABB).

How IHS helps

IHS works from your hospital's or contractor's copy of the perioperative standards. AABB's standards page lists the 11th edition as current (effective January 1, 2025) and the 12th edition (effective January 1, 2027) as available for purchase. The pages reviewed do not say which edition AABB will assess against for an assessment scheduled before or after January 1, 2027. Your organization should ask AABB in writing; IHS drafts the question and your organization sends it. Until AABB answers, IHS builds the document system to the requirements the two editions share and holds any edition-specific procedure change. AABB's expectation is that "all standards are addressed in policies, processes and procedures (PPPs), and that PPPs are followed as written" (AABB). The process:

1. Gap assessment. IHS reviews your perioperative program against the chosen edition and lists what is missing or out of date.
2. Questionnaires. Short questionnaires on service agreements, personnel, equipment and traceability show how the service runs today.
3. Document and evidence mapping. IHS builds a crosswalk from each standard to the procedure and record that shows it, which supports your self-assessment.
4. Drafting. IHS drafts service agreement templates, equipment and traceability procedures and quality-review records. IHS drafts collection and administration protocols for your perfusion and anesthesia leads to review and approve.
5. Mock review. Before AABB's on-site assessment, IHS reviews your procedures and records the way an assessor reads them.

What you supply: the standards, current service agreements, equipment records, and the perfusionists, anesthesiologists and transfusion specialists who run the service. You apply to AABB and complete the self-assessment.

The limit: collection and administration decisions are clinical. They stay with your clinicians, who approve every protocol IHS drafts.

What to have ready

Each item ties to the AABB Perioperative Standards (11th edition, effective January 1, 2025; 12th edition, effective January 1, 2027), the Accreditation Activities list (Version 3) or the AABB Accreditation Process.

1. AABB's written answer on which edition your assessment will use, and a copy of each edition.
2. A list of the perioperative services you perform, set against the activity definition: acute normovolemic hemodilution, intraoperative and postoperative blood recovery, and perioperative component production.
3. The locations or operational areas where those services take place, since the activity is defined by "location or operational area within a facility."
4. Your agreements with any contract personnel who perform the work, since the definition covers "the facility's staff or contract personnel."
5. A roster of the professionals who deliver the service, by role: anesthesiologists, perfusionists, surgeons, transfusionists and others named in the standards' scope.
6. Your collection, storage and administration procedures, which the standards' scope names.
7. Equipment records for the devices used in collection and recovery.
8. Dated records showing at least six months of operation in the Perioperative Activity.
9. Completed records showing PPPs are "followed as written."

The introductory call is the place to walk through this list for your program.

How it compares

AABB lists perioperative accreditation as its own activity. This table describes the hospital activities AABB names; it does not say which your hospital should hold.

AABB states that hospitals "may become AABB-Accredited for one or more" of these activities (AABB). The choice belongs to your organization.

What it costs

AABB publishes its institutional dues and fees. From the 2026 AABB Institutional Dues Fees (dated 10.01.2025):

• "Annual institutional membership dues include basic membership, volume fee and an accreditation activity fee, which is based upon your primary business focus."
• Basic Membership, Accredited Institutions: $1,714.
• Application Fee (new members only): $1,740.
• Perioperative Activity: $2,336. AABB lists it among activities that "require lead assessor services," to which "an accreditation fee of $3,694 is applied" in addition to the activity fee.
• A perioperative volume fee, charged on the total number processed per year.
• "Additional fees may apply if activities are performed at multiple sites."

The standards: the 11th edition print or portal version lists at $197.00, or $160.00 for members; the 12th edition lists at $206.00, or $168.00 for members (AABB, Purchase Standards). These are AABB's published dues and fees, not a total cost. The same AABB fee document lists a travel fee of $1,568 per year for non-U.S. locations (excluding Canada), notes that additional fees may apply for multi-site activities, and does not itemize other assessor charges. Verify current fees with AABB.

IHS scopes each engagement after a free introductory call.

What this is not

• IHS is not an accrediting body and does not grant, influence or predict an AABB decision.
• IHS does not apply to AABB, complete the self-assessment or correspond with AABB on your behalf. IHS drafts; your hospital or service submits.
• This page is not clinical advice. IHS does not decide collection, recovery, hemodilution or administration practice.

Frequently asked questions

What is AABB perioperative autologous blood accreditation?

It is AABB's accreditation of the Perioperative Activity, assessed against the AABB Standards for Perioperative Autologous Blood Collection and Administration. The 11th edition took effect January 1, 2025, and the 12th edition takes effect January 1, 2027.

Which services count: cell salvage, acute normovolemic hemodilution, perioperative component production?

AABB's activity definition covers intraoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution; collection, storage and administration of autologous blood products and components obtained during intraoperative and postoperative autologous blood recovery; and perioperative autologous component production. Any one of them performed in a location or operational area of the facility falls within the activity.

Should we prepare to the 11th edition or the 12th edition effective January 1, 2027?

AABB's standards page lists the 11th edition as current (effective January 1, 2025) and the 12th edition (effective January 1, 2027) as available for purchase. The pages reviewed do not say which edition AABB will assess against for an assessment scheduled before or after January 1, 2027. Your organization should ask AABB in writing; IHS drafts the question and your organization sends it. Until AABB answers, IHS builds the document system to the requirements the two editions share and holds any edition-specific procedure change.

Can a contracted perfusion or cell-salvage provider be accredited, or only the hospital?

AABB's definition of the Perioperative Activity covers a location or operational area within a facility where the activities are performed by the facility's staff or contract personnel. Confirm with AABB which entity should apply before you start the self-assessment; your organization makes that contact.

How long does AABB perioperative accreditation take?

AABB states that the majority of facilities complete the self-assessment and on-site assessment phases in 1 to 2 years. A facility must operate in the activity for at least 6 months before the initial process can begin, and accredited facilities repeat the on-site assessment every two years.

How much does AABB perioperative accreditation cost?

AABB's 2026 fee schedule lists the Perioperative Activity at $2,336 plus a lead-assessor accreditation fee of $3,694, basic membership of $1,714, a $1,740 application fee for new members, and a volume fee based on the total number processed per year. Additional fees may apply for multiple sites. Verify current fees with AABB.

What service agreement, equipment and traceability records will the assessor review?

AABB expects all standards to be addressed in policies, processes and procedures, and those procedures to be followed as written. The specific record requirements are in your copy of the standards. IHS maps each standard to the agreement, equipment record or traceability record that shows it and drafts what is missing.

Who must approve collection and administration protocols?

The standards address services delivered by the facility's anesthesiologists, perfusionists, surgeons, transfusionists and other relevant professionals, and the approval requirements are in your copy. In IHS's process, the perfusion and anesthesia leads review and approve every protocol IHS drafts; IHS does not make clinical decisions.

Can we add perioperative accreditation to an existing AABB transfusion service accreditation?

AABB lists the Perioperative Activity as a separate activity for hospitals performing transfusion services. Adding a new activity follows the same two phases as a first accreditation: self-assessment, then on-site assessment.