New Jersey Surgical Practices Must Register With Department of Health

In November, the New Jersey Department of Health alerted all state-licensed physicians that all surgical practices must register with the Department of Health. The alert was sent via a letter to all physicians on the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners’ roster regardless of whether they specialized in surgery or not. Additionally, the Department of Health published a notice in the New Jersey Register that reiterated the information. Surgical Centers in New Jersey have sixty days to comply with the statutory requirement.

The move stems from legislation that former Governor Jon Corzine signed into law on March 2009. The legislation included amendments to the Codey Law that was designed, in part, to place restrictions on state surgical practices. Not only does the law require that physicians register their surgical centers, but it also includes regulations that require statistical disclosures. If a surgical practice does not comply with these regulations, it must cease operations.

The term “surgical practice” is defined in the law as any “physician’s office in which any anesthesia other than local or topical is used for any service, regardless of whether the physician may consider it a procedure and not surgery.” The law does exempt certain practices from compliance, including ones for endoscopies, hysteroscopies and cycstoscopies that have sinks in the room. Additionally, practices for pain management injections need not register under the law.

The requirements extend to any existing surgical practice that has not registered previously and either was already in operation on September 17, 2009, or had submitted plans and other required documents with the municipality in which it is located prior to that date. Upon registration, a surgical practice has six months in which to get certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or be certified by another body recognized by the CMS.

For more key information on complying with surgical practice requirements in New Jersey, contact the knowledgeable health law attorneys at Buttaci Leardi & Werner, LLC.

Tagged with: Codey Law, health law, surgical practices

• Posted on: Jan 26 2015