In response to NBC 4 New York's questions, Frontier Healthcare has issued the following statement:
These centers are fully licensed by the New York State Department of Health and accredited by agencies approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The rigorous review processes for approval and accreditation of all ambulatory surgical facilities, as well as all hospitals and other healthcare facilities, prior to and immediately following opening, were established as a way to ensure that all laws and standards are met and/or exceeded and that any concerns be corrected.
The fact that during an accreditation survey issues were identified and corrected is not unusual and is within the industry norm. The issues noted at these centers upon initial survey, when these centers first opened during the period 2011 to 2013, were then immediately addressed and as a result these centers have been licensed to operate in New York State and participate in Medicare and Medicaid. There are no current deficiencies outstanding.
At no time has patient safety been questioned by the regulatory bodies at these three centers since these original modifications were instituted, which we believe is a reflection on these centers’ ongoing quality of care. Each of the centers demonstrate superior patient safety rates when compared with data from other surgery centers, hospitals, and physician office alternatives. The rate that patients are transferred from these ASCs to hospitals is considerably less than national average for ambulatory surgery centers.
Ambulatory surgery centers, which contract with Frontier Healthcare for the provision of administrative services, have partnered with the regulatory and accreditation organizations to ensure the highest level of patient care. Frontier, the centers it works with, the physicians who own these facilities, and all accreditation agencies have one, common goal: healthcare facilities operating at the highest medical and administrative standards to ensure the highest level of care.
These centers are relentlessly engaged in quality improvement initiatives; including but not limited to peer reviews, mock drills, on-going staff training, QI/QA studies, third party in-servicing, and on-going government reporting on any patient safety related incidents.
Each of these centers was founded by board-certified New York-based gastroenterologists associated with major teaching/academic institutions.
