Certified ASCs that obtain accreditation and maintain compliance typically report a low infection rate; in the third quarter of 2017, the ASC Quality Collaboration Quality Report showed a hospital transfer rate of 0.955 per 1,000 ASC admissions. Wrong site, side, patient, procedure and implant instances were 0.032 per 1,000 ASC admissions.
However, a NorthJersey.com report reinforced why certification and maintaining compliance with accreditation standards is so important. Here are six takeaways.
1. Historically, New Jersey has allowed one-room centers to operate outside of department of health oversight; new legislation will bring those centers under the same oversight as other healthcare facilities in the state.
2. In case of emergency, ASCs are required to have a written transfer agreement with a local hospital, or all physicians performing surgery at the center must have admitting privileges at a designated hospital, according to ASCA.
3. A health department inspection at a Paterson, N.J.-based center five days after a patient death found supplies of two drugs used for resuscitation were not available at the center because they were back-ordered. The surgery center has denied wrongdoing.
4. The federal government requires a registered nurse trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation to be available whenever a patient is in the ASC.
5. In 2011, the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute found that 43 percent of unlicensed surgical practices weren't in compliance with certain serious safety requirements, compared to only 15 percent of licensed centers, indicating greater safety issues at unlicensed practices. According to Medicare data, two-thirds of the unlicensed New Jersey facilities surveyed in 2015 received "immediate jeopardy" citations.
