Do you have a Transfer Agreement? Well they are becoming “OBSOLETE” in the state of California. Only a handful of hospitals provide transfer agreements.
If you are up for surgery center re-accreditation and you have a transfer agreement good. Usually issued transfer agreements are what we call “EVERGREEN” and they are good indefinitely or unless contract relations called you to cancel the agreement. Always call the hospital to ensure your evergreen status and document it in your Governing Body minutes on an annual basis.
If you are up for surgery center re-accreditation or surgery center accreditation “INITIAL” and you cannot get a transfer agreement you can do the following to ensure you are compliant to this standard:
The Medical Director, Medical Staff i.e. surgeons and anesthesia providers must have admitting privileges to an acute care hospital within a close proximity to your surgery center. Also try to obtain copies of privileges to Medicare certified ambulatory surgery centers as part of the credentialing information; most importantly the hospital privileges are what you will need.
If you are a solo operation and you do not have admitting privileges to a hospital all is not lost. You must contract with a group i.e. Anesthesia Group at a neighborhood hospital that will admit your patients. You must obtain a written contract with this group and they must be credentialed to perform anesthesia services in your surgery center
Here’s to your success,
NB
