PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2079 PRINTER'S NO. 2161
No. 1692 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY O'BRIEN, D. EVANS, FICHTER, BENNINGHOFF, SCHRODER,
STURLA, DAILEY, HARHART AND FLEAGLE, JUNE 4, 2001
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, JUNE 11, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), entitled "An
2 act relating to health care; prescribing the powers and
3 duties of the Department of Health; establishing and
4 providing the powers and duties of the State Health
5 Coordinating Council, health systems agencies and Health Care
6 Policy Board in the Department of Health, and State Health
7 Facility Hearing Board in the Department of Justice;
8 providing for certification of need of health care providers
9 and prescribing penalties," requiring ambulatory surgical
10 facility extended stay standards.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. The act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known
14 as the Health Care Facilities Act, is amended by adding a
15 section to read:
16 Section 2126 822. Ambulatory Surgical Facility Extended Stay <--
17 Standards.--(a) As used in this section, the following words
18 and phrases shall have the meaning given to them in this
19 subsection:
20 "Ambulatory surgical facility" shall mean a facility or
21 portion thereof not located upon the premises of a hospital <--
1 WHICH IS OWNED, PARTIALLY OR WHOLLY, AND DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, <--
2 BY A HOSPITAL OR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AND which provides specialty
3 or multispecialty surgical treatment to patients who do not
4 require hospitalization, but who require constant medical
5 supervision for a period less than twenty-four (24) hours
6 following discharge from the operating room. The term does not
7 include individual or group practice offices of private
8 physicians or dentists, unless such offices have a distinct part
9 used solely for outpatient surgical treatment on a regular and
10 organized basis.
11 "Extended Stay" shall mean a stay in an extended stay unit at <--
12 the ambulatory surgical facility after discharge from the post-
13 anesthesia unit.
14 "EXTENDED STAY SERVICES" SHALL MEAN SERVICES PROVIDED TO A <--
15 PATIENT AT AN AMBULATORY SURGICAL FACILITY AFTER DISCHARGE OF
16 THE PATIENT FROM A POST-ANESTHESIA UNIT.
17 (b) Except as provided in subsection (a), all other words
18 and phrases used in this section shall have the meaning given to
19 them in the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the
20 "Health Care Facilities Act."
21 (c) Within one year after the effective date of this
22 section, the Department of Health shall publish in the
23 Pennsylvania Bulletin proposed regulations establishing revised
24 standards for licensure of ambulatory surgical facilities
25 providing extended stay services to patients, other than
26 pediatric patients, including, but not limited to:
27 (1) Sufficient bed accommodations and access to a bathroom
28 with a shower.
29 (2) Fire and safety standards.
30 (3) Personnel and equipment requirements.
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1 (4) Requiring an anesthetist to remain present until a
2 patient has been discharged from the post-anesthesia recovery
3 unit.
4 (5) Requiring a physician to be on call until the patient is
5 discharged from the extended stay SERVICES unit. <--
6 (6) Requiring the provision of dietary services directly or
7 through a contracted vendor.
8 (7) Requiring that not more than four (4) patients receive
9 extended stay services at any one time.
10 (d) In no event shall the total time in a post-anesthesia
11 unit or extended stay unit AND AN EXTENDED STAY SERVICES UNIT OF <--
12 AN AMBULATORY SURGICAL FACILITY exceed twenty-three (23) hours
13 and fifty-nine (59) minutes following discharge from the
14 operating room.
15 (e) The standards required by this section shall be
16 consistent with current standards for ambulatory surgical
17 facilities, including standards for construction, and not
18 inpatient facilities, such as hospitals, hospices and long-term
19 care nursing facilities and shall appropriately reflect the
20 lesser intensity of services and the better health of ambulatory
21 surgical facility patients as compared to hospital patients.
22 (f) The adoption of standards for extended stay SERVICES <--
23 units in ambulatory surgical facilities shall not be construed
24 as authorizing ambulatory surgical procedures to generally
25 exceed a total of four (4) hours of operating time and a total
26 of four (4) hours of directly supervised recovery in a post-
27 anesthesia unit.
28 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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