GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1983 SESSION
CHAPTER 1064
AN ACT TO CLARIFY THE DEFINITION OF AN AMBULATORY SURGICAL FACILITY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 131E-146 and G.S. 131E-176 are amended by deleting subdivision (1) and by substituting the following:
"(1) 'Ambulatory surgical facility' means a facility designed for the provision of an ambulatory surgical program. An ambulatory surgical facility serves patients who require local, regional or general anesthesia and a period of post-operative observation. An ambulatory surgical facility may only admit patients for a period of less than 24 hours and must provide at least one designated operating room and at least one designated recovery room, have available the necessary equipment and trained personnel to handle emergencies, provide adequate quality assurance and assessment by an evaluation and review committee, and maintain adequate medical records for each patient. An ambulatory surgical facility may be operated as a part of a physician or dentist's office, provided the facility is licensed under G.S. Chapter 131E, Article 6, Part D, but the performance of incidental, limited ambulatory surgical procedures which do not constitute an ambulatory surgical program as defined in subdivision (1a) and which are performed in a physician or dentist's office does not make that office an ambulatory surgical facility.
(1a) 'Ambulatory surgical program' means a formal program for providing on a same-day basis those surgical procedures which require local, regional or general anesthesia and a period of post-operative observation to patients whose admission for more than 24 hours is determined, prior to surgery, to be medically unnecessary."
Sec. 2. This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 2nd day of July, 1984.