As a New Jersey plastic and cosmetic surgeon, I often get asked, is having surgery in your facility safe? Would it be safer at the hospital?
The simple answer is that I can provide an experience which I believe is equal in safety to the local hospitals. In many respects I believe I can exceed the hospital experience. True, all surgery has some risk. There is never a 100% guarantee that something unexpected does not occur. This can occur in an office, an outpatient facility, or even in a hospital. Common sense says that you need to be careful with surgical risk and do everything possible to minimize it. Preparing for the unimaginable emergency is very important so that risk can be minimized.
I believe strongly in the need for an accredited facility. There are several organizations that are independent of the facility that provide inspection and accreditation. Hospitals are inspected. So should be office based facilities. New Jersey law allows many smaller procedures (even under light sedation) to be performed in unaccredited offices. I believe in a higher level of care for my patients than our current state law mandates.
My office is accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgical Facilities, Inc. Also know as AAAASF, I consider this group the gold standard of accreditation. Inspection is multifaceted including on-site inspections, record reviews, peer review, credential reviews, personnel reviews, equipment reviews, safety reviews and more. Stringent nationally based standards are applied and the facility must pass each and every standard.
What other steps are taken for safety? Next on my list are the providers who actually provide anesthesia. Board certified anesthesiologists are the only people who deliver anesthesia at Delaware Valley Plastic Surgery. While many hospitals and facilities employ CRNA certified registered nurse anesthetists, I prefer to have a physician providing this 100% of the time. CRNAs are certainly more than capable, but are always backed up by a licensed physician. My feeling is that the operating plastic surgeon is not an anesthesiologist and thus there should be one present in case of emergency.
Equipment is very important. Not only should emergency equipment be of high quality, it needs to be continually inspected. My philosophy is that it should be of equal caliber to the equipment used at any local hospital. During my inspection, the quote “This is nicer than most hospitals I have seen” is something that made me feel very good about the way my facility is equipped. I have an independent Biotech company inspect everything on a routine scheduled basis.
I feel extremely comfortable operating on healthy patients in my office based facility. I have state of the art equipment, experienced anesthesiologists, knowledgable registered nurses, and true gold standard accreditation. While there is always some risk in surgery, my goal is to minimize risk and provide a safe and comfortable experience.
Best regards,
Evan Sorokin MD
