Office Surgery Facility Inspections: What does it mean? Part 2

General Requirements for Office Surgery

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) regulates office surgery facilities in the state through its Office Surgery Registration and Inspection Program. This oversight ensures that these facilities comply with state laws and rules to maintain patient safety. Unless an office is accredited by a nationally recognized agency, it is subject to DOH inspections and all new facilities are subject to a pre-registration inspection.

Here are the key aspects of the DOH inspection process for Florida office surgery facilities, regarding the General Requirements for Office Surgery, Part 2 in this series. Inspectors will come to the office surgery facility and check:

• Compliance with pre-operative evaluation.
• To ensure the surgeon or qualified anesthesia provider examined the patient immediately prior to the surgery to evaluate the risk of anesthesia and of the surgical procedure to be performed.
• Compliance with patient/procedure records.
• Compliance with informed consent.
• Surgical logs to ensure the logs contain the required information.
• Surgical logs have been maintained for six (6) years since last patient contact.
• Compliance with post-operative care.

This part of the inspection is quite complex and comprehensive. Having your records ready for the inspector on the day of the inspection will help the inspection go much smoother. It is important to know what the inspectors are looking for on each item listed and the attorneys at Howell, Buchan & Strong are here to help. With over thirty years of health law experience, our attorneys understand the complexities of office surgery regulation and inspections.

If you are unsure about your facility’s compliance and have an upcoming inspection, contact us and let us help. We are prepared to help you with any aspect of your office surgery facility.