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GOVERNOR ELIOT SPITZER SIGNS PATIENT PROTECTION BILL
New Law Requires Enhanced Safety Standards for Office Based Surgical Procedures

Governor Eliot Spitzer announced today that he has signed legislation that will protect thousands of patients undergoing surgical procedures in physicians’ offices.

The legislation will provide for appropriate patient safety standards regarding whether a surgery can be performed in a hospital, ambulatory surgery center, or a doctor’s office. Currently, surgeries performed in doctor’s offices are not regulated in New York State. Practitioners are not currently bound by the same credentialing and safety requirements as hospitals and are not required to report adverse outcomes.

“We have a responsibility to protect public safety by ensuring that facilities that offer office-based surgeries meet rigorous safety standards,” said Governor Spitzer. “Many procedures can be performed safely in an office environment, allowing patients convenient access to medical care and increasing efficiency.”

The new law:

• Requires office-based surgery be performed by physicians in a setting that has obtained and maintained accreditation from an entity approved by the state Health Commissioner.
• Requires that operating in an un-accredited setting would constitute professional medical misconduct.
• Requires physicians to report adverse office-based surgery events including patient deaths and unplanned hospital admissions within one business day to the Department of Health Patient Safety Center.
• Requires that individual reports be considered confidential and not be subject to the Freedom of Information Law or discovery.

Nationwide, the number of surgical procedures performed in doctors’ offices instead of hospitals has more than doubled in the last decade ? with nearly 10 million surgical procedures performed annually in office-based settings since 2000. The procedures being performed are increasingly complicated surgical and invasive procedures.

Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., said: “As a physician who has witnessed firsthand the adverse consequences to patients from office-based surgeries performed by suspect practitioners or in substandard facilities, this legislation is a real breakthrough. New reporting requirements provided in the law will help the Department of Health identify facilities and providers meriting additional scrutiny much earlier. This legislation exemplifies Governor Spitzer’s ‘Patients First’ mission and is a true victory for patients.”

Richard N. Gottfried, Chairman of the New York State Assembly Committee on Health said: “Most people assume that the Health Department already has jurisdiction over surgery done in a physician's office, but actually that has not been true. This legislation provides long overdue protections for patient safety.”

Senate Health Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon said: “This legislation furthers the goal of providing quality health care services in New York State by ensuring office-based surgeries are provided in safe environments by qualified individuals. I am pleased with the result.”

Arthur A. Levin, M.P.H., Director of the Center for Medical Consumers said: “Patients in New York can only benefit from this new law regulating doctors’ offices where surgery is performed. The New York State Legislature and the State Health Department are to be commended for following the recommendations of the workgroup that crafted the proposal.”

William B. Rosenblatt, M.D., former President of the Medical Society of the State of New York and Member of the Committee on Quality Assurance in Office-Based Surgery, said: “On behalf of the Medical Society of the State of New York, I would like to congratulate Commissioner Daines for his strong leadership in advancing a public health agenda that will assure that basic standards of care are met when surgery is performed in office settings.”

The legislation is based on recommendations made by the Committee on Quality Assurance in Office-Based Surgery, established in 1997 by the New York State Public Health Council. The 18-member committee consisted of consumer advocates and medical specialists.