Alabama Administrative Code › Title 420 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH › Chapter 420-5-2 - AMBULATORY SURGICAL TREATMENT FACILITIES › Section 420-5-2-.01 - General

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Legal Authority
			 for Adoption of Rules. Under and by virtue of authority vested in it by the
			 Legislature of Alabama (Code of Ala. 1975, §§
								22-21-20,
et
seq
.), the State Board of
			 Health does hereby adopt and promulgate the following rules governing
			 outpatient surgical treatment centers licensed to operate in the State of
			 Alabama.
(2) Definitions (a list of
			 selected terms often used in connection with these Rules):
(a) AAC Rule means Alabama Administrative
			 Code Rule.
(b) Administrator means
			 a natural person who is the governing authority of a health care facility or a
			 natural person who is designated by the governing authority of a health care
			 facility. Such person must have sufficient authority to interpret and implement
			 all policies of the owner or proprietor, and must be sufficiently qualified to
			 perform those tasks. Such person shall be the addressee of all correspondence
			 and inquiries from the State Board of Health.
(c) Advisory Board. See Section
			 22-21-27 of Appendix.
(d) Ambulatory Surgical Center means any
			 health care facility with the primary purpose of providing medically necessary
			 or elective surgical care. Excluded from this definition are the offices of
			 private physicians and dentists, including those organized as professional
			 corporations, professional associations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships.
			 Also excluded from this definition are health care facilities defined as
			 hospitals under section (i), below.
(e) "Specialized Ambulatory Surgical Center"
			 means an ambulatory surgical center that provides surgical services in an
			 exclusive specialty, such as orthopedics, pediatrics, gynecology and
			 obstetrics, ophthalmology, or other specialized practice.
(f) Health Care Facility means any structure,
			 building, office, or portion thereof where medical procedures are
			 performed.
(g) Board or State Board
			 of Health means the Alabama State Board of Health.
(h) Facilities for Surgical Treatment of
			 Patients Not Requiring Hospitalization as referred to in these rules means
			 "Ambulatory Surgical Centers."
(i)
			 Governing Authority means the owner or proprietor of health care facility, or
			 the body, such as a board of directors, which exercises control over a health
			 care facility on behalf of its owner or proprietor.
(j) Hospital means a health care facility
			 duly licensed by the State Board of Health under Chapter 420-5-7, Alabama
			 Administrative Code, to offer to the public not less than fifteen beds and
			 other facilities for use in diagnosis and treatment of persons in need of acute
			 care for illness, disease, injury, deformity, infirmity, abnormality or
			 pregnancy. A health care facility meets this definition only if the facility is
			 licensed to offer and actually does offer such care or service for not less
			 than twenty-four consecutive hours in any week to two or more individuals not
			 related by blood or marriage to the owner and/or administrator of the
			 facility.
(k) Medical Director
			 (Qualified) means the physician responsible for planning, organizing,
			 conducting, and directing the medical affairs of the ambulatory surgical
			 center. The Physician-Director must meet either of the following requirements
			 to be considered qualified:
1. Is Board
			 Eligible or Board Certified in surgery or anesthesia and has had at least 12
			 months of experience or training in the care of patients in a surgical
			 environment; or
2. During the 5
			 year period prior to the effective date of these rules, has served for at least
			 12 months as director of a surgical unit.
However, in those areas where a qualified medical Director is
				not available to direct an ambulatory surgical center, another physician may
				direct the facility, subject to the approval of the Alabama State Board of
				Health.
(k)
			 Medical Staff means currently licensed physicians and dentists and podiatrists
			 who are privileged by agreement with licensee to attend patients within the
			 institution.
(l) Patient means a
			 person admitted to the ambulatory surgical center by and upon the
			 recommendation of a physician and who is to receive the medical care
			 recommended by the physician.
(m)
			 Pharmacy means a place licensed by the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy in which
			 prescriptions, drugs, medicines, chemicals, and poisons are sold, offered for
			 sale, compounded or dispensed, and shall include all places whose title may
			 imply the sale, offering for sale, compounding or dispensing of prescriptions,
			 drugs, medicines, chemicals, or poisons.
(n) Pharmacist means a person currently
			 licensed to practice pharmacy in Alabama under the provisions contained in
			 current state statutes.
(o)
			 Physician means a person currently licensed by the Medical Licensure
			 Commission, State of Alabama, to practice medicine and surgery.
(p) Podiatrist means a person currently
			 licensed to practice podiatry in Alabama under the provisions of current state
			 statutes.
(q) Registered Nurse (RN)
			 means a professional registered nurse currently licensed in the State of
			 Alabama in accordance with the provisions contained in current state
			 statutes.
(r) Licensed Practical
			 Nurse (LPN) means a person currently licensed in the State of Alabama in
			 accordance with
Code of Ala. 1975
, §§
									34-21-1,
et
seq
.
(s) These Rules means Rules 420-5-2-01
			 through 420-5-2-.04, Chapter 420-5-2,
			 Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Facilities, Alabama Administrative
			 Code.