What is office based surgery?
Years ago, all surgery was performed in hospitals, usually with at least an overnight stay. Subsequently, the concept of ambulatory surgery developed. Initially hospitals had created facilities where surgery was performed on ambulatory basis where the patients would arrive at the facility on the day of surgery, and then be discharged home after recovering from anesthesia. Next, free-standing ambulatory surgery facilities opened where surgery could be performed by surgeons of a number of specialties, all on an outpatient basis. Most recently, in the past twenty years or so, office based surgery became a reality. In this setting, a portion of the surgeon’s office is constructed to contain a preoperative area, operating room, recovery room and instrument processing and storage areas.
What is accreditation?
Accreditation is a process of assessing and certifying a facility, be it a hospital, ambulatory surgery center or office based surgical facility of meeting certain minimum standards as required by that certifying organization. It is a means for the consumer of knowing that appropriate quality assurance, infection control processes and procedures, safety and competency standards are being met by the facility. In New York State, accreditation was not required of office based surgery facilities until July, 2009.
Who performs accreditation of a facility?
Accreditation can be performed by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery (AAAASF), the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) or the Joint Commission (JC). Our office is accredited by the AAAASF.
What type of accreditation does Dr. Epstein’s office based surgery facility have?
When Dr. Epstein opened his office-based surgical facility in Stony Brook NY in 1999, he obtained accreditation from AAAASF. Then in 2003 he was accredited by the Joint Commission. In 2018 Dr. Epstein opened a state of the art surgical facility in Hauppauge, NY that has obtained accreditation from AAAASF.
When is surgery not performed in Dr. Epstein’s office?
If there are underlying medical issues such as diabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure or other medical problems, Dr. Epstein may escalate the surgery to an ambulatory surgery facility or even a hospital, particularly if an overnight stay in the hospital is required.
Who provides anesthesia services in Dr. Epstein’s facility?
Dr. Epstein prefers to have anesthesiologists (physicians who practice anesthesia) as opposed to a nurse anesthetist who must work under the supervision of a physician. Dr. Epstein works with two anesthesiologists, Adrienne Levy, M.D. and Brian Slepian, M.D. Dr. Epstein has worked with both of these fine physicians since 1994 when they were all on the full time staff at University Medical Center at Stony Brook. Currently, Drs. Levy and Slepian are on staff at the North Shore SurgiCenter, a local ambulatory surgery facility, located in Smithtown, N.Y. Both of these anesthesiologists are extremely skilled and caring, and play an integral role in the enhanced recoveries that Dr. Epstein offers, including the One Day Recovery method of breast augmentation.