09/05/2011

Surveyors Focus on ASCs

One-quarter of all Ohio ASCs Subject to Inspections

Ohio Department of Health and CMS Surveyors Focus on ASCs

25% of All Ohio Medicare Certified ASCs Subject to Inspections

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) notified the OAASC on Friday Sept. 2 that nearly 25 percent of all Ohio ASCs that are Medicare certified could be subject to surprise or scheduled inspections by the ODH or by CMS within the next year. This is potentially above and beyond deemed status surveys by the Joint Commission or AAAHC.

This initiative is a part of ODH's inspection process and CMS' initiative to more closely monitor ASCs, especially in the area of infection prevention.

CMS and ODH have stepped up their reviews of ASCs over the past several years with special funding and numerous ASCs have received notices of deficiencies and citations on their quality assessment/improvement, patient complaint resolution, medication errors/handling and infection prevention.

ODH indicates that CMS remains especially concerned with the infection prevention components of the Medicare conditions of coverage.

 For more information, contact the OAASC at info@oaasc.net