Rep. Peet says surgeon-call plans will protect patients at outpatient surgical centers

Representative Peet introduced House Bill 2686 on behalf of the sponsor, calling it “really just a patient protection bill” that addresses complications when surgeons who work at outpatient centers lack hospital privileges.

Peet explained that major procedures increasingly occur in outpatient settings and described cases in which patients arriving at hospital emergency departments could not be cared for promptly because the surgeon “doesn't really have privileges at the hospital” or lacks an arranged covering physician. Under the bill, an allopathic or osteopathic surgeon who performs surgeries at an outpatient surgical center must file with the center a call-coverage plan and update it as changes occur; failure to comply is classified in the bill as unprofessional conduct subject to board complaint.

Peet told the committee the requirement is intended to reduce emergency-room delays and shift responsibility to the operating surgeon: “So the way, it's already set. If something happens and the doctor doesn't have privileges at the hospital, he's made arrangements so his patient can have somebody that he knows that knows the history that can take care of the patient at the hospital.”

The committee moved the bill and recorded a due-pass recommendation (6 ayes, 0 nays, 1 not voting). The action was procedural and did not change the bill text; no amendments were adopted in committee.