CMS Issues New Conditions for Coverage for Ambulatory Surgical Centers

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Written by Scott Becker

Tuesday, 15 January 2008

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on Aug. 31, 2007, released a proposed rule that would revise the conditions for coverage for ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs).

See 72 Fed. Reg. 50,470 (proposed Aug. 31, 2007) (to be codified at 42 C.F.R. pt. 416). The proposed rule includes the most significant revisions to the conditions for coverage in more than two decades. According to CMS, these changes “reflect contemporary standards of practice in the ASC community, as well as recommendations from the HHS Inspector General.”

Specifically, the proposed rule would revise three existing conditions for coverage: (1) governing body and management; (2) evaluation of quality, which would be renamed quality assessment and performance improvement; and (3) laboratory and radiology services. The proposed rule would also add three new conditions for coverage: (1) patient rights; (2) infection control; and (3) patient admission, assessment and discharge.

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