The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has officially released the top ASC citations for Medicare certification surveys and Ohio licensure surveys for the past year.
This comes at a time when the department has stepped up licensure surveys and more and more centers are dropping their accrediting bodies' deemed status as ODH and CMS inspections have increased regardless.
Centers can expect this same continued high level of scrutiny for the time being as both federal and state regulators focus on patient care across all settings (usually as a result of media reports).
TOP 10 CITATIONS FOR ASCs FROM THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
With the exception of structural/life safety code issues, many of these citations are related to policies and procedures for the centers and generally require changes that can sometimes be accomplished at a board level and with proper management.
Other issues can be significant and often require expensive changes to the center. In many recent cases, the "financial hardship" appeal to CMS or ODH is not being approved. And while centers have been approved in the past (or at opening) with the same structures, this generally has not made a difference with the decision.
Please ensure that your center is as compliant as possible in advance of surveys to avoid needless expenses, citations and worse.
The OAASC has a number of associate member resources that can assist you. Please contact us at info@oaasc.net or go to www.oaasc.net
OAASC's annual conference Sept 14 - 16 will address ALL of these issues and provide you a wealth of resources through our incredible presentations and vendors to deal with all of the concerns for your center. See the link below.