California issues new regs for outpatient surgery settings

Editor's Note

California Senate Bill 396, designed to strengthen regulation of unlicensed outpatient surgery settings, goes into effect January 1, 2016, the Joint Commission reports.

The Bill builds upon existing regulations that mandate facility accreditation of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and office-based surgery practices that are not state licensed or Medicare certified.

The new regulations affect Joint Commission-accredited ASCs and office-based surgery practices by requiring peer reviews and unannounced inspections. The findings of the peer review must be evaluated by a facility’s administrators and provided to the Joint Commission at the time of the organization’s on-site survey.

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