Pre-Surgery Check List
The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) encourage prospective patients to make sure their office-based cosmetic surgery meets the following requirements:
The operating surgeon is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
The office-based surgical facility is accredited by a nationally or state recognized accrediting agency, or is state licensed or Medicare certified. Nationally recognized accrediting agencies include the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF), the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC).
The surgeon has privileges at an accredited acute care hospital for the specific procedure being performed.
Patients undergoing procedures that involve sedation are appropriately monitored by registered nursing personnel. When general anesthesia is used, it should be administered by a board-certified anesthesiologist or certified registered nurse anesthetist.
The emergency equipment and anesthesia monitoring devices in the surgical facilities are equivalent to those that would be necessary for the same surgical procedure performed in a hospital or freestanding ambulatory surgery center.
Provisions are made for hospital admission in the event of unforeseen complications.
There is a separate recovery area with monitoring equipment equivalent to that which would be necessary for the same procedure performed in a hospital or ambulatory surgery facility.
Until the patient is fully recovered, a physician is at the site, in addition to a registered nurse.
Discharge from the facility is always determined by the responsible surgeon.
