Surgical Errors in Outpatient Settings: Are You Still Protected?

A growing number of surgical procedures are now happening in outpatient settings. This includes both doctors’ offices and ambulatory surgery centers. Patients often don’t think about how this might affect their ability to recover compensation after an injury until one has already happened—few people go into a surgical procedure expecting a poor outcome.

Regardless of where you opt to get surgery done, you deserve to know your rights and take steps to assert them if you’re given improper care. If you suspect you’ve been the victim of medical malpractice, don’t wait any longer—call Nace Law Group to set up a time to meet with our team now.

A growing shift towards outpatient surgery

There has been a significant move toward outpatient surgery in recent years. Pinning down the reasons for this trend involves looking at a variety of factors. For certain operations, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a major uptick in outpatient surgical procedures. This was largely in response to calls to mitigate patient risk by minimizing exposure and having patients spend as little time at healthcare facilities as possible. In other cases, the shift toward surgical procedures at doctors’ offices and ambulatory surgery centers is a matter of convenience. Patients can often take less time off of work, get scheduled for surgery more quickly, and spend less money on their care. Statistics indicate that about two-thirds of surgeries now happen in outpatient settings.

Differences in regulation and oversight

Healthcare administrators don’t often like having discussions regarding patient safety vs. cost. Yes, outpatient care is less expensive, but does that come at a cost? In general, ambulatory surgical centers tend to have a smaller staff than hospitals. Ambulatory surgical centers are regulated separately from hospitals and may have different oversight structures, though they are still subject to licensing and quality standards under both DC law and federal CMS requirements.

Ambulatory surgical centers are generally limited in terms of the services they can provide. Surgery is inherently risky, even with the most skilled care providers meeting every single precaution. Some high-risk procedures may be unsafe to perform outside of a hospital due to the lack of immediate access to advanced emergency care.

Across the board, though, a doctor’s standard of care is their standard of care—no matter where they practice. Doctors are expected to meet the standard of care for their specialty, and when they fail to do so, they may be held accountable for it. Ultimately, their ability to practice comes down to the medical board of the state that holds their license—not the facility they work at.

Patient rights and liability

No matter where a patient seeks care, they deserve to have evidence-based care from the care providers assigned to them. When people look at medical malpractice claims, they often wonder how a patient could choose a doctor with a bad track record or multiple poor outcomes in their recent history—but in fact, it is not easy for patients to find out this information. If patients do find out about poor outcomes, it’s often after a lot of digging and help from those who have walked the same road before. Patients deserve to know the qualifications of the surgeon working on them, and when a surgeon fails to provide appropriate care, patients deserve the right to seek compensation.

Medical malpractice claims may come down to liability, and that’s where you may see a difference between outpatient surgical facilities and hospitals. In some cases, it’s not the care provider who is negligent in a medical malpractice claim—it’s the facility or its owner. When that happens, the compensation available to a patient depends largely on how much insurance coverage the facility has, and its assets. Hospitals are often components of large medical groups with massive liability insurance policies, allowing them to cover significant malpractice claims. One of the benefits of ambulatory surgical centers is their lower overhead, and unfortunately, that may extend to their insurance. If an ASC is negligent, the compensation a patient ultimately receives may be limited by the facility’s available insurance coverage or assets.

Negligence and the inherent dangers of surgery

Medical malpractice claims deal with negligence on the part of doctors, nurse practitioners, medical administrators, and others with some role in a patient’s care. But what happens when there is no negligent party? Patients may be left without recourse.

This outcome is entirely possible in an ambulatory surgical center. Consider that for many patients, surgery isn’t the riskiest part of a procedure—anesthesia is. While most patients respond to anesthesia as expected, there are those who have unexpected reactions that can be life-threatening. If you’re having surgery done in a hospital—either outpatient or inpatient—you are that much closer to emergency care that could save your life. When something goes wrong, whether due to anesthesia or an unforeseeable complication from surgery, minutes matter. In cases where no negligence occurred—such as unforeseen and unpreventable complications—patients may not have grounds for a malpractice claim, regardless of the facility type.

Location is never an excuse for negligence

When we talk about whether or not patients have the same rights and protections in ASCs as hospitals, it comes down to this: care providers are held to a certain standard of practice. That standard remains in place in every practice setting. Providing care in a smaller or less expensive facility doesn’t mean that standards drop. Wherever a healthcare provider is negligent in their work, they may be held liable via a medical malpractice claim.

The medical malpractice lawyers at Nace Law Group know how a medical error can completely change a patient’s life and destroy their trust in the medical field. We’re here for you during this difficult and painful time. To discuss your case in greater detail, call us or reach out online.