Who must be accredited or licensed?

California law prohibits physicians from performing some outpatient surgery, unless it is performed in an accredited or licensed setting.

Section 2216 of the Business and Professions Code (B&P) specifies that on or after, July 1, 1996, no physician and surgeon shall perform procedures in an outpatient setting using anesthesia, except local anesthesia or peripheral nerve blocks, or both, complying with the community standard of practice, in doses that, when administered, have the probability of placing a patient at risk for loss of the patient's life-preserving protective reflexes, unless the setting is specified in Health and Safety Code Section 1248.1. Outpatient settings where anxiolytics and analgesics are administered are excluded when administered, in compliance with the community standard of practice,in doses that do not have the probability of placing the patient at risk for loss of the patient's life-preserving protective reflexes. The definition of "outpatient settings" contained in subdivision (c) of Health and Safety Code Section 1248 shall apply.

Accredited Outpatient Surgery Settings:

Pursuant to the enactment of SB 100, effective January 1, 2012, Health and Safety Code (H&S) Section 1248.2 (b), (c), and (d) now provides that the Board shall obtain and maintain a list of accredited outpatient settings from the information provided by the accreditation agencies approved by the Board. The Board shall notify the public, by placing the information on its Internet Web site, whether an outpatient setting is accredited or the setting's accreditation has been revoked, suspended, or placed on probation, or the setting has received a reprimand by the accreditation agency.

The list of outpatient settings shall include all of the following:

1. Name, address, and telephone number of any owners, and their medical license numbers.
2. Name and address of the facility.
3. The name and telephone number of the accreditation agency.
4. The effective and expiration dates of the accreditation.

Accrediting agencies approved by the Board shall notify the Board and update the Board on all outpatient settings that are accredited.

As outlined in Health and Safety Code (H&S) Section 1248.1 certain outpatient surgery settings are excluded from the accreditation requirement, such as ambulatory surgical centers certified to participate in the Medicare program under Title XVIII, health facilities licensed as general acute care hospitals, federally operated clinics, facilities on recognized tribal reservations, and facilities used by dentists or physicians in compliance with Article 2.7 or Article 2.8 of Chapter 4 of Division 2 of the B&P Code.

For further information concerning this law, or for assistance in determining accreditation or licensure of an outpatient surgery setting, please contact Susan Morrish, Licensing Program Analyst, at (916) 263-2393 or susan.morrish@mbc.ca.gov.

The Board currently approves the following Accreditation Agencies:

Disclaimer

The information contained in the Outpatient Surgery Setting Database has been received from an approved accreditation agency in accordance with the provisions of Section 1248.2 of the H&S Code and, pursuant to that section, is displayed on the Board’s Internet site. The Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided. Upon receipt of updated information from an accreditation agency, the information will be made available in the database.