Fla. Stat. § 459.0138 — Florida Code / Title XXXII / Chapter 459 / Section 459.0138
459.0138 Office surgeries.
Status: in_force

(1) REGISTRATION. — (a)1. An office in which a physician performs a liposuction procedure in which more than 1,000 cubic centimeters of supernatant fat is temporarily or permanently removed, a Level II office surgery, or a Level III office surgery must register with the department. A facility licensed under chapter 390 or chapter 395 may not be registered under this section. 2. The department must complete an inspection of any office seeking registration under this section before the office may be registered. (b) Each office registered under this section or s. 458.328 must designate a physician who is responsible for the office’s compliance with the office health and safety requirements of this section and rules adopted hereunder. A designated physician must have a full, active, and unencumbered license under this chapter or chapter 458 and shall practice at the office for which he or she has assumed responsibility. Within 10 calendar days after the termination of a designated physician relationship, the office must notify the department of the designation of another physician to serve as the designated physician. The department may suspend a registration for an office if the office fails to comply with the requirements of this paragraph. (c) As a condition of registration, each office must establish financial responsibility by demonstrating that it has met and continues to maintain, at a minimum, the same requirements applicable to physicians in ss. 458.320 and 459.0085. An office in which a physician performs a gluteal fat grafting procedure must also establish financial responsibility by demonstrating that it has met and continues to maintain, at a minimum, the same requirements applicable to physicians in ss. 458.320(2)(b) or (c) and 459.0085(2)(b) or (c), as applicable. Each physician practicing at an office registered under this section or s. 458.328 must meet the financial responsibility requirements under s. 458.320 or s. 459.0085, as applicable. (d) Each physician practicing at an office registered under this section or s. 458.328 shall advise the board, in writing, within 10 calendar days after beginning or ending his or her practice at the registered office. (e)1. The department shall inspect a registered office at least annually, including a review of patient records, to ensure that the office is in compliance with this section and rules adopted hereunder unless the office is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency approved by the board. The inspection may be unannounced, except for the inspection of an office that meets the description of clinic specified in s. 459.0137(1)(a)3.h., and those wholly owned and operated physician offices described in s. 459.0137(1)(a)3.g. which perform procedures referenced in s. 459.0137(1)(a)3.h., which must be announced. 2. The department must immediately suspend the registration of a registered office that refuses an inspection under subparagraph 1. The office must close during such suspension. The suspension must remain in effect for at least 14 consecutive days and may not terminate until the department issues a written declaration that the office may reopen following the department’s completion of an inspection of the office. (f) The department may suspend or revoke the registration of an office in which a procedure or surgery identified in paragraph (a) is performed for failure of any of its physicians, owners, or operators to comply with this section and rules adopted hereunder or s. 458.328 and rules adopted thereunder. If an office’s registration is revoked for any reason, the department may deny any person named in the registration documents of the office, including the persons who own or operate the office, individually or as part of a group, from registering an office to perform procedures or office surgeries pursuant to this section or s. 458.328 for 5 years after the revocation date. (g) The department may impose any penalty set forth in s. 456.072(2) against the designated physician for failure of the office to operate in compliance with the office health and safety requirements of this section and rules adopted hereunder or s. 458.328 and rules adopted thereunder. (h) The actual costs of registration and inspection or accreditation shall be paid by the person seeking to register and operate the office in which a procedure or surgery identified in paragraph (a) will be performed.

(2) STANDARDS OF PRACTICE. — (a) A physician may not perform any surgery or procedure identified in paragraph (1)(a) in a setting other than an office surgery setting registered under this section or a facility licensed under chapter 390 or chapter 395, as applicable. The board shall impose a fine of $5,000 per incident on a physician who violates this paragraph. (b) Office surgeries may not: 1. Be a type of surgery that generally results in blood loss of more than 10 percent of estimated blood volume in a patient with a normal hemoglobin level; 2. Require major or prolonged intracranial, intrathoracic, abdominal, or joint replacement procedures, except for laparoscopic procedures; 3. Involve major blood vessels and be performed with direct visualization by open exposure of the major blood vessel, except for percutaneous endovascular intervention; or 4. Be emergent or life threatening. (c) A physician performing a gluteal fat grafting procedure in an office surgery setting shall adhere to standards of practice under this subsection and rules adopted by the board which include, but are not limited to, all of the following: 1. A physician performing a gluteal fat grafting procedure must conduct an in-person examination of the patient while physically present in the same room as the patient no later than the day before the procedure. 2. Before a physician may delegate any duties during a gluteal fat grafting procedure, the patient must provide written, informed consent for such delegation. Any duty delegated by a physician during a gluteal fat grafting procedure must be performed under the direct supervision of the physician performing such procedure. Fat extraction and gluteal fat injections must be performed by the physician and may not be delegated. 3. Fat may only be injected into the subcutaneous space of the patient and may not cross the fascia overlying the gluteal muscle. Intramuscular or submuscular fat injections are prohibited. 4. When the physician performing a gluteal fat grafting procedure injects fat into the subcutaneous space of the patient, the physician must use ultrasound guidance, or guidance with other technology authorized under board rule which equals or exceeds the quality of ultrasound, during the placement and navigation of the cannula to ensure that the fat is injected into the subcutaneous space of the patient above the fascia overlying the gluteal muscle. Such guidance with the use of ultrasound or other technology is not required for other portions of such procedure. 5. An office in which a physician performs gluteal fat grafting procedures must at all times maintain a ratio of one physician to one patient during all phases of the procedure, beginning with the administration of anesthesia to the patient and concluding with the extubation of the patient. After a physician has commenced, and while he or she is engaged in, a gluteal fat grafting procedure, the physician may not commence or engage in another gluteal fat grafting procedure or any other procedure with another patient at the same time. (d) If a procedure in an office surgery setting results in hospitalization, the incident must be reported as an adverse incident pursuant to s. 458.351.

(3) RULEMAKING. — (a) The board shall adopt by rule standards of practice for physicians who perform procedures or office surgeries pursuant to this section. (b) The board may adopt rules to administer the registration, inspection, and safety of offices in which a physician performs procedures or office surgeries pursuant to this section.

History: s. 6, ch. 2019-130; s. 4, ch. 2023-307; s. 2, ch. 2024-181.