PA agrees to allow some lap procedures
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has decided to allow ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to resume some laparoscopic surgery as long as they seek state approval.
"We’re trying to make sure there are enough safety factors in place," says department spokesman Richard McGarvey. "If it can be demonstrated, we’ll approve it."1 The action comes three months after it warned surgery centers in the state to halt laparoscopic cases due to concerns about risk of injury.
Department officials said they will grant quick approval for procedures that are on the list of approved procedures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Other procedures require special permission from the department. Centers must agree to limit the cases to 90 minutes of operating time, four hours of recovery time, and 90 minutes of anesthesia.
Anita Fuhrman, RN, CASC, president of the Pennsylvania Ambulatory Surgery Association and director of the Lebanon (PA) Outpatient Surgical Center, says, "In specifics, facilities that had been performing laparoscopic choles, Nissens, and appendectomies must provide data to support their safety record, the experience levels of its medical staff members, have quality assurance and improvement systems in place to track and address safety issues, and provide patient selection criteria." Transfers and complications resulting from surgeries must be investigated, and policies and procedures must be in place to handle emergency situations, she says.
The Pennsylvania Ambulatory Surgery Association, Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association, and Pennsylvania Medical Society worked together to resolve the issue, she adds.
Reference
- Associated Press. Ban on certain surgery eased — Outpatient centers now permitted to resume some laparoscopic operations. March 13, 2005. Web: www.post-gazette.com/pg/05072/470141.stm.
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