CMS SOM App. L, Tag Q-0102

[The ASC must provide a functional and sanitary environment for the

provision of surgical services.]

(2) The ASC must have a separate recovery room and waiting area.

Interpretive Guidelines: §416.44(a)(2)

The ASC is required to have both a waiting area and a recovery room, which must be

separate from each other as well as other parts of the ASC. They may not be shared with

another healthcare facility or physician office. (See the interpretive guidelines for §416.2

concerning sharing of physical space by an ASC and another entity.)

There must be a room within the ASC where patients recover immediately after surgery.

A “room” consists of an area with at least semi-permanent walls from floor to ceiling

separating it from other areas of the ASC. The recovery room must be equipped to allow

appropriate monitoring of the patient’s recovery. The type of equipment required

depends on the type(s) of surgery performed in the ASC. The size of the recovery room

must be commensurate with the number of ORs in the ASC and the expected volume of

patients who will be in recovery simultaneously.

The recovery room may also be used for preoperative preparation of patients as well as

for post-operative recovery, consistent with accepted standards of practice. Under no

circumstances, however, may the recovery room also be used as a general waiting area

for patients awaiting preoperative preparation or for people who accompany patients.

Likewise, patients recovering from surgery may not be placed in a waiting room or area,

unless they have already been discharged from the ASC and are, for example, waiting

briefly while the adult who accompanied them brings a car to the ASC’s entrance.

Consistent with accepted standards of practice, including infection control standards, and

protection of patients’ rights to privacy and confidentiality of their clinical information

the ASC may permit individuals who accompany patients to be present in the recovery

room during the patient’s recovery from surgery.

Survey Procedures: §416.44(a)(2)

• Observe whether there is a separate room in which patients recover from their

surgery, and whether it is appropriately equipped.

• Observe whether there is a separate waiting area for visitors and patients who

have not yet begun preoperative preparation.