At the 19th Annual Ambulatory Surgery Centers Conference in Chicago on Oct. 27, Alice Epstein, director of risk control at CNA HealthPro, presented on compliance essentials for the life safety code in ASCs.
The National Fire Protection Association's life safety code is the consensus standard for construction protection and occupancy features to minimize damage to life from the effects of fire, smoke, heat and toxic gas.
While it is not a legal code and has no statutory authority on its own, many regulatory agencies, including The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other accrediting bodies, include life safety regulations for their compliance.
To survive a life safety survey, always let surveyors in the door, no matter who is or isn't in the in office, she said. Surveyors have the right to shut down your ASC if you won't let them in. Stay with the surveyor as much as possible, and accompany him or her on the building walk through. Keep a log of observations from the walk through.
Areas to pay attention to for compliance issues are exits, emergency power, door dimensions, vertical openings, hazardous areas and anesthetizing locations.
Ms. Epstein recommends purchasing the NFPA workbook for all of the examples related to various codes.
The easiest way to make sure your ASC is in compliance is to invite someone from your local fire department over for a walk through. The service is most often free and firefighters are thrilled to be invited for their expertise.
While CMS currently complies with the 2000 life safety code, the 2012 updates should be accepted in the next two years.
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The National Fire Protection Association's life safety code is the consensus standard for construction protection and occupancy features to minimize damage to life from the effects of fire, smoke, heat and toxic gas.
While it is not a legal code and has no statutory authority on its own, many regulatory agencies, including The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other accrediting bodies, include life safety regulations for their compliance.
To survive a life safety survey, always let surveyors in the door, no matter who is or isn't in the in office, she said. Surveyors have the right to shut down your ASC if you won't let them in. Stay with the surveyor as much as possible, and accompany him or her on the building walk through. Keep a log of observations from the walk through.
Areas to pay attention to for compliance issues are exits, emergency power, door dimensions, vertical openings, hazardous areas and anesthetizing locations.
Ms. Epstein recommends purchasing the NFPA workbook for all of the examples related to various codes.
The easiest way to make sure your ASC is in compliance is to invite someone from your local fire department over for a walk through. The service is most often free and firefighters are thrilled to be invited for their expertise.
While CMS currently complies with the 2000 life safety code, the 2012 updates should be accepted in the next two years.
More Articles on ASC Improvement:
Adding Cases & Recruiting Surgeons at Surgery Centers
Why Less is More: Embracing the Niche Network Model of Joint Venture ASCs
10 Key Steps to Immediately Improve Profits