[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 42, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR416.44]

[Page 683-684]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
                    CHAPTER IV--CENTERS FOR MEDICARE
                          & MEDICAID SERVICES,
                        DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
                             HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 416--AMBULATORY SURGICAL SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
               Subpart C--Specific Conditions for Coverage
 
Sec. 416.44  Condition for coverage--Environment.

    The ASC must have a safe and sanitary environment, properly 
constructed, equipped, and maintained to protect the health and safety 
of patients.
    (a) Standard: Physical environment. The ASC must provide a 
functional and sanitary environment for the provision of surgical 
services.
    (1) Each operating room must be designed and equipped so that the 
types of surgery conducted can be performed in a manner that protects 
the lives and assures the physical safety of all individuals in the 
area.
    (2) The ASC must have a separate recovery room and waiting area.
    (3) The ASC must establish a program for identifying and preventing 
infections, maintaining a sanitary environment, and reporting the 
results to appropriate authorities.
    (b) Standard: Safety from fire. (1) Except as otherwise provided in 
this section, the ASC must meet the provisions applicable to Ambulatory 
Health Care Centers of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code of the 
National Fire Protection Association, regardless of the number of 
patients served. The Director of the Office of the Federal Register has 
approved the NFPA 101[reg] 2000 edition of the Life Safety 
Code, issued January 14, 2000, for incorporation by reference in 
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. A copy of the Code is 
available for inspection at the CMS Information Resource Center, 7500 
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD and at the Office of the Federal 
Register, 800 North Capitol Street NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC. 
Copies may be obtained from the National Fire Protection Association, 1 
Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. If any changes in this edition of 
the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the 
Federal Register to announce the changes.
    (2) In consideration of a recommendation by the State survey agency, 
CMS may waive, for periods deemed appropriate, specific provisions of 
the Life Safety Code which, if rigidly applied, would result in 
unreasonable hardship upon an ASC, but only if the waiver will not 
adversely affect the health and safety of the patients.
    (3) The provisions of the Life Safety Code do not apply in a State 
if CMS finds that a fire and safety code imposed by State law adequately 
protects patients in an ASC.
    (4) An ASC must be in compliance with Chapter 21.2.9.1, Emergency 
Lighting, beginning on March 13, 2006.
    (c) Standard: Emergency equipment. Emergency equipment available to 
the operating rooms must include at least the following:
    (1) Emergency call system.
    (2) Oxygen.
    (3) Mechanical ventilatory assistance equipment including airways, 
manual breathing bag, and ventilator.
    (4) Cardiac defibrillator.
    (5) Cardiac monitoring equipment.
    (6) Tracheostomy set.
    (7) Laryngoscopes and endotracheal tubes.

[[Page 684]]

    (8) Suction equipment.
    (9) Emergency medical equipment and supplies specified by the 
medical staff.
    (d) Standard: Emergency personnel. Personnel trained in the use of 
emergency equipment and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation must be 
available whenever there is a patient in the ASC.

[47 FR 34094, Aug. 5, 1982, amended at 53 FR 11508, Apr. 7, 1988; 54 FR 
4026, Jan. 27, 1989; 68 FR 1385, Jan. 10, 2003]