Ambulatory Surgery Centers

An Ambulatory Surgery Center expert witness testifies regarding patient care, administrative issues, and surgery performed at Ambulatory Surgery Centers. Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) are health care facilities where surgical, diagnostic, and preventive procedures are performed without the need or expectation for an overnight hospital stay. Ambulatory surgery, or outpatient surgery, can also be performed at an inpatient facility; however, the patient is not admitted to the hospital postoperatively. ASCs are becoming more common due to published studies showing a decrease in infections and complications at these facilities. Ambulatory surgery is also referred to as same-day or outpatient surgery, and ASCs are often called outpatient surgery centers, same day surgery centers, or surgicenters. Common procedures performed at ambulatory surgery centers include:

• Orthopedics: Arthroscopic surgery (knee, shoulder), carpal tunnel surgery, hardware removal
• Ophthalmology: LASIK, glaucoma surgery, cataract surgery, blepharoplasty
• Gastroenterology: EGD and colonoscopy
• Plastics: Breast augmentation, facelift, tummy tuck, liposuction, rhinoplasty
• Pain Medicine: Spinal epidural steroid injections (LESI, CESI), bursa injections
• Urology: Cystoscopy, stent removal, vasectomy, circumcision
• General Surgery: Biopsies, lumpectomy, hemorrhoid surgery, thyroid surgery

Ambulatory Surgery Centers, and providers at these facilities, are often defendants in medical negligence cases. Recurring areas of litigation at ASCs include:

• Anesthesia errors such as over-sedation leading to respiratory and cardiac events; difficult airways; insufficient staff and equipment to appropriately deal with an emergency
• Failure to recognize iatrogenic (physician-caused) injury prior to patient discharge
• Issues of agency and ostensible agency for physicians and surgeons
• Failure to properly sterilize equipment; malfunctioning equipment
• Lack of accreditation
• Infections
• Failure to obtain proper informed consent

Given the diverse types of cases that can be performed in ambulatory surgery centers, expert witness selection typically focuses on healthcare providers and administrators. Providers may include surgeons such as Plastic Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, or Otolaryngology; nurses such as Surgical or “OR” Nurses; anesthesia providers including Anesthesiologists and CRNAs (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists); and administrators such as ASC Administrator or ASC Nurse Administrator.

To secure a hand-selected Ambulatory Surgery expert witness for your ASC case, please contact Elite Medical Experts and speak with a physician or nurse on our Case Strategy Team.