the patient to the vehicle.
'Broken record' of docu-
mentation
While the law might be unclear
and lagging behind the market-
place, one thing remains a con-
stant: Documentation is an
essential factor of risk mitiga-
tion. Maintain documentation at
all stages of patient care. It
starts before the patient ever
enters the center. Craft your dis-
charge policies to comply with
applicable law, accreditation
standards and CMS conditions
for payment. Document that you
explained these procedures to
the patient. And finally, if the
patient chooses to deviate from
these policies and protocols,
document in the record how you
attempted to avoid those
instances. While there is no way
to eliminate risk, preparation
and documentation are clear
ways to mitigate it.
OSM
Mr. Krisza (jkrisza@wilentz.com)
is an attorney for Wilentz, Goldman
and Spitzer in Woodbridge, N.J.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 9
Nearly 1 in 3 respondents to
last month's Outpatient
Surgery survey have dis-
charged patients without a
responsible adult present.
Do you let unaccompanied
patients take an Uber, Lyft or
taxi home after surgery?
often 1%
sometimes 8%
seldom 22%
never 69%
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery
Magazine InstaPoll, January
2019, Respondents: 533
InstaPoll
O
S
M
Going Home Alone
