The state of New York has issued a new set of patient-safety standards aimed at physicians who perform surgical procedures in their offices. Under a new law, doctors who perform such surgeries must have their offices accredited by a state-mandated organization. They'll also have to report adverse events such as deaths and unplanned hospital admissions to the state within one business day. In the past, surgeries performed in a physician's office weren't regulated by the state, and practitioners weren't policed in the same way hospitals are. The new law should have a big impact, given that the rate of in-office surgeries is growing dramatically in and outside of New York. Nationwide, the volume of surgical procedures performed in doctors' offices more than doubled over the last decade, to almost 10 million a year.
To learn more about the new rules:
- read this Business First of Buffalo article
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