New Jersey long ago required that surgical practices—which consisted of a single operating room within a physician medical practice—be registered by the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH). This registration process would aim at ensuring that these sites met the necessary criteria to obtain Department of Health Ambulatory Care Facility licensure as an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC). To achieve ASC status, these practices were required to meet the physical plant, patient safety, staffing, governance, and policy and procedure requirements of licensed facilities (N.J.A.C. 8:43A).
The law requiring the transition from surgical practice registration (SPR) to ASC licensure for these facilities was signed in 2018, and all surgical practices interested in obtaining ASC licensure were required to submit their applications by early 2019. In the years since, many surgical practices have successfully obtained ASC status. Others have attempted to meet the significantly enhanced requirements of ASC licensure and found that doing so may be burdensome, cost prohibitive and in some cases, unnecessary for their ultimate needs. Additionally, DOH practices have restricted transfers of SPRs to other parties, despite a willingness of the transferee to meet all ASC licensure requirements prior to opening. These barriers and complexities have led to some SPRs being abandoned altogether, while others remain registered as SPRs but with no clear path forward. Ultimately, the DOH appears intent on phasing out the remaining SPRs that do not obtain ASC status in the near future.
The attorneys at Frier Levitt work exclusively with healthcare providers, including providing comprehensive guidance to physician practices and ASC licensees on all DOH-related regulatory and transactional matters. Our team communicates regularly with DOH representatives on behalf of our clients based in New Jersey, to address their Surgical Practice Registrations, and working to achieving outcomes that meet the client’s clinical and business needs effectively after fully exploring all of the available options.
If you have any DOH-related questions, including those related to SPRs or ASC licensure, please contact us for a consultation with an attorney who is well-versed in these matters.
