Office-Based Surgery

Please see Announcements for important information regarding electronic Office-based Surgery Adverse Event Reporting Rev. Feb. 12, 2020

Office-Based Surgery is any surgical or invasive procedure, accompanied by general anesthesia, deep or moderate sedation, or liposuction with removal of greater than 500 ml; where the procedure is performed by a physician, physician assistant or specialist assistant, in a location other than a hospital or ambulatory surgery center. This definition excludes minor procedures and procedures performed with minimal sedation. Minor procedures are those that can be performed safely with minimal discomfort where the likelihood of complications requiring hospitalization is minimal; procedures performed with local or topical anesthesia or liposuction with removal of less than 500 ml under unsupplemented anesthesia. For more information regarding office-based surgery, please see the Frequently Asked Questions for Practitioners (Revised January 2018).

Announcements

Electronic Office-based Surgery Adverse Event Reporting

The electronic filing of Office-based Surgery Adverse Event Reports is now available. Notification of OBS practices regarding the implementation of electronic filing occurred via emails and a US Postal Service mass mailing. The contact email addresses used were provided by your accrediting organization. OBS practices will receive updates regarding electronic adverse event reporting and be notified when training videos are available, via email. Contact your accrediting organization directly to update the email address for your practice.

Contact the Office of Quality and Patient Safety to learn more about the submission of the electronic Adverse Event Report.

Office of Quality and Patient Safety (OQPS) Contact information:

  • Mail: Office-Based Surgery
    Office of Quality and Patient Safety
    New York State Department of Health
    Corning Tower, Room 1938
    Albany, NY 12237
  • Phone: (518) 408-1219
  • Email: obs@health.ny.gov

Newsletter

Health Commerce System (HCS) - Quick Links

In the event the electronic adverse event report is unavailable, a paper adverse event report form can be found here: Office-Based Surgery - Paper Adverse Event Report.(PDF) Submit your paper adverse event report to the NYSDOH at the address above or submit via secure file transfer application on the DOH Health Commerce System website. Instructions for utilizing the secure file transfer application can be found at the HCS - Quick Links section, above.

INTRODUCTION

  • The New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH) Office-Based Surgery (OBS) Program is dedicated to promoting and improving patient safety and quality health services for all patients undergoing procedures in an accredited OBS setting in New York State.
  • In accordance with New York State Public Health Law Section 230-d, all physicians, physician assistants (PA), specialist assistants (SA) and podiatrists, must report specific adverse events occurring in relation to the performance of OBS, to the Office of Quality and Patient Safety (OQPS) of the NYSDOH. Such reportable adverse events shall be reported to OQPS within three business days of the occurrence of the event; suspected transmission of bloodborne pathogens must be reported within three days of becoming aware of a suspected transmission.
  • Failure to report this information falls within the definition of professional misconduct identified in Section 6530(48) of NYS Education Law.

Adverse Events that must be reported according to PHL Public Health Law § 230-d

  1. Patient death within thirty (30) days of the procedure;
  2. Unplanned transfer; to a hospital for reasons related to the office-based surgery encounter;
  3. An emergency department visit within seventy-two (72) hours of office-based surgery; for reasons related to the office-based surgery encounter;
  4. Unscheduled hospital admission or assignment to observation services; within seventy-two (72) hours of the office-based surgery, for longer than twenty-four (24) hours;
  5. Any other serious or life-threatening events: *The DOH has adopted those events identified and defined as Serious Reportable Events by the National Quality Forum as our definition of "other serious or life-threatening events"; involving OBS patients.

    The DOH has identified the following events as meeting the OBS law definition of an "other serious or life-threatening event":
    • Unplanned return to the OR after discharge from an OBS office for a procedure related to the OBS procedure;
    • Delayed admission to the hospital for actual or potential OBS related complications occurring between seventy-three (73) hours and thirty (30) days after, an OBS procedure.
  6. Any Suspected Health Care Transmission of a Bloodborne Pathogen (BBP): a suspected transmission of a bloodborne pathogen (BBP) from a healthcare practitioner to a patient or between patients originating in an OBS practice as a result of improper infection control practices. BBP include but are not limited to: Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Who Must Report Adverse Events:

  • ALL licensed physicians, PA's, SA's and podiatrists directly or indirectly involved in the OBS procedure must file an adverse event report. Mandated reporters involved in the OBS procedure, which typically includes the proceduralist and the sedation/anesthesia providers, may file a single report or each licensee may file separate reports.
  • It is the personal responsibility of each mandated reporter to ensure that an adverse event report has been reported.
  • ANY physician, PA and/or SA, or podiatrist in a hospital or other setting who believes or becomes aware of a patient complaint, complication, condition, emergency department visit, hospital admission or death that occurred status post an OBS procedure.

List of accredited Office-based Surgery Practices: Office-Based Surgery Practices in New York State.

The Adverse Event Report can be found at: https://obsaer.health.ny.gov.

About Office Based Surgery