Getting a head start
The more time you can allocate to planning for a surveyor's visit, the bet-
ter off you'll be. "Preparation for a survey should start the day after the
previous survey ends," says James Elledge, RN, administrator and direc-
tor of surgical services at McGee Eye Surgery Center, an affiliate of the
Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma City, Okla., and a former survey-
or. "This is when the feedback from the surveyor is still fresh, and you've
not only gleaned any deficiencies in your facility's processes, you're also
acutely aware of insufficiencies in your preparation."
Use the exit interview with the surveyor to start generating initial
thought processes about how to best prepare for the next visit,
says Mr. Elledge. "At this early stage, the survey planning is all
being done informally, but it should translate into more formal
preparation or organization at your next governing board or opera-
tions meeting," he adds.
Your board meetings and the painstakingly recorded minutes that
accompany them are a key component of any thorough survey prep.
"When you're submitting your application six to nine months in
advance of your survey, you're going to send the surveyor the
minutes from the last two board meetings you had," says Jessica
Rodriguez, MBA, CRCP-I, administrator of Metro Health OAM
Surgery Center in Grand Rapids, Mich. "That means these meet-
ings should focus on issues that are likely to apply to the upcom-
ing survey."
For example, your minutes should clearly show you're abiding by
your bylaws, that the group who meets is representative of your facili-
5 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 2 0
Preparation for a survey should start the day
after the previous survey ends.
— James Elledge, RN
