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Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act of 2023
12/13/2023, 11:49 PM
Summary of Bill S 312
First, the bill seeks to establish quality standards for outpatient surgical facilities to ensure that patients receive safe and effective care. This includes requirements for infection control, patient safety protocols, and staff training. By setting these standards, the bill aims to reduce the risk of complications and improve outcomes for patients undergoing outpatient surgery.
Second, the bill aims to increase access to outpatient surgical services, particularly in underserved communities. This includes provisions to expand the availability of outpatient surgical facilities in rural areas and low-income neighborhoods. By increasing access to these services, the bill seeks to ensure that all patients have the opportunity to receive high-quality care close to home. Additionally, the bill includes measures to improve transparency and accountability in the outpatient surgery industry. This includes requirements for facilities to report data on patient outcomes and infection rates, as well as provisions to protect patients from surprise medical bills. Overall, Bill 118 s 312 aims to enhance the quality and accessibility of outpatient surgical procedures in the United States, with a focus on improving patient outcomes and reducing disparities in access to care.
Congressional Summary of S 312
Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act of 2023
This bill establishes and modifies certain requirements relating to Medicare payments for ambulatory surgical center (ASC) services.
Specifically, the bill (1) requires the payment system for ASC services to feature certain positive annual adjustments equivalent to those made with respect to hospital outpatient department (OPD) services; (2) revises quality reporting requirements to permit publicly available, side-by-side comparisons of quality measures for ASCs and OPDs in the same geographic area; and (3) requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), when excluding requested procedures from the list of those approved to be performed in ASCs, to cite specified reasons for doing so.
With respect to excluding procedures from the approved list for ASCs, the CMS may not cite as a basis for exclusion that a procedure can only be reported using an unlisted surgical procedure code. (Physicians sometimes use unlisted codes when performing new procedures or services if no existing code is adequately descriptive.)
The bill also limits the copayment amount for ASC services under Medicare to that of the inpatient hospital deductible.
