1/18/08

The Department of Health (DOH) has designated the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) as an authorized agency to be used by office-based surgery (OBS) practices to meet new accreditation requirements in New York. This affects all OBS surgeries in New York.

“AAAASF has worked with the State of New York over the last several years to assist in the development of the new law, and we believe that New York has taken a critical step to help ensure patient safety by requiring careful oversight of the office-based ambulatory medical and surgical care environment,” says Alan Gold, MD, president of AAAASF.

The New York law requires office-based surgery performed by physicians requiring moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia, and certain liposuction procedures be performed in a setting that has obtained and maintained accreditation from an entity approved by the state Health Commissioner.

In New York and throughout the country, AAAASF already accredits more office-based surgery facilities than any other accrediting body and is reaching out to all physicians to offer a helping hand.

One component of the law requires reporting of unanticipated events after surgery to the state. AAAASF has already been requiring this type of reporting along with random case reviews for the past 7 years.

[AAAASF January 18, 2008]