Survey of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons’ Offices

There are several office-based surgery/anesthesia inspection organizations that certify ambulatory care centers, and in some instances certification is required by medical state boards in order to improve or demonstrate safety in the office. The American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery requires its members’ offices to have current certification to perform major cosmetic surgery under deep sedation or general anesthesia. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) does not stipulate a specific organization to inspect offices and essentially leaves the mechanism and organizational process up to the individual states. Unfortunately, if there are no specific guidelines to follow and if there is not an “independent” group to perform the office assessment, the process could become disorganized and highly susceptible to bias. Therefore the only way to ensure unbiased uniformity is to require specific anesthesia and emergency equipment be available and a specific written certification process to be in place prior to inspection. The State Board of Dentistry of Virginia and the AAOMS both have specific equipment requirements based upon the level of anesthesia being performed in the office.

Survey Questions
1. Do you have a registered nurse(s) (RN) in the office?
Yes
No
2. Do they (RNs) routinely participate in the anesthesia care team?
Yes
No
Not applicable
3. Do all of your assistants who participate in the anesthesia
care team have certification as an anesthesia assistant (ie, have taken a course given by AAOMS or ADSA)?
Yes
No
Not applicable
4. Do all of your assistants/nurses who participate on the anesthesia care team have up-to-date BLS certification? cialis soft tabs online
Yes
No
5. Do all of the surgeons in your practice have up-to-date ACLS certification?
Yes No
6. Do you have a copy of the AAOMS Office Emergency Manual?
Yes
No
7. Does your office have a defibrillator?
Yes
No