Relating to emergency care policy and procedure requirements applicable to an ambulatory surgical center

This bill relates to emergency care policies and procedures for ambulatory surgical centers. The bill specifies the established written policies and procedures to provide appropriate care to an ambulatory surgical center’s patients if a patient requires emergency care. The policies and procedures shall provide for readily available on-site equipment and supplies and the appropriately trained staff necessary to administer emergency care protocols; prearranged obtainability of ambulance services for transporting a patient to a local hospital when emergency services are required and notification of the patient’s next of kin or a responsible party when such transport is required; a written transfer agreement between the ambulatory surgical center and at least one local hospital that requires the hospital to accept a patient requiring emergency care being transferred from the ambulatory surgical center to the hospital; and the documentation required to accompany a patient to the hospital to be submitted by the ambulatory surgical center to the receiving hospital at the time the patient is transferred for emergency care. The bill defines “ambulatory surgical center” for the purposes of the bill.