Medical professionals praise the Board’s guidelines, issued in response to Senate Resolution 1222
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The Georgia Composite Medical Board issued guidelines for office-based anesthesia and surgery at its December 2011 meeting after conducting a hearing to consider public comments. The Medical Board’s new guidelines were the product of a months-long collaboration with interested parties from the public, as well as professional societies and associations, and were supported by every interested party submitting a comment.
Senate Resolution 1222, adopted in April 2010 and sponsored by Don Thomas, Greg Goggans, Renee Unterman, and Lee Hawkins, urged the Medical Board to develop and adopt guidelines for office-based surgery. After soliciting and receiving input from physicians, members of the Board of Nursing and the Nursing Community, professional associations, and other interested parties, the Medical Board posted a public notice of its intent to adopt these guidelines. After reviewing all public comments, which were universally supportive, the Board voted at its December 2, 2011 meeting to adopt these guidelines.
Dr. Alexander Gross, Immediate Past Chairman, noted, “"By adopting these guidelines, the Medical Board has a set a standard for medical practitioners who perform surgery or utilize sedation in an office setting. The Board's ultimate goal is to ensure patient safety in these situations. We are grateful for the input that we received from numerous sectors of the medical community in creating these protocols."
These guidelines went into effect immediately and are available on the Board’s website at Guidelines for Office-based Anesthesia and Surgery