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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
A C C R E D I T A T I O N
1. The fire alarm. Stephanie
Reed, MSN, RN, CNOR, nurse manag-
er at Ophthalmology Associates in
Lutherville, Md., and her staff
assumed it wouldn't be necessary to
disrupt and frighten the numerous
other medical practices that share
her building. They assumed wrong.
"We were cited for a tabletop drill
because we didn't physically pull the
fire alarm, even though the staff had
correctly identified the need to pull
the alarm in a real emergency," she
says. "When I explained to the sur-
veyor that we're in a multi-use build-
ing and that it wasn't feasible, he said it didn't matter. He cited the EP
(Elements of Performance), which was in the hospital book. I showed
him the ambulatory book, which didn't have that and he said he'd
have to check with headquarters. I knew it was sticking when we got
the final report back."
2. 7 feet, 11 inches apart. Technically, of course, surveyors
aren't supposed to be in the business of cutting people slack, but does
that mean there can be no gray areas at all? "Would you believe we
got cited for having our waste receptacles off by 1 inch?" asks one
facility administrator. "According to the fire code, garbage receptacles
and dirty laundry receptacles have to be 8 feet away from each other.
They literally pulled out a tape measure, and we got cited!"
If that kind of attention to detail surprises you, imagine the eagle
eye (and consummate nerve?) it took to cite this facility: "As we
FALSE ALARM Surveyors might want
you to actually pull the fire alarm —
even if you share your building with
other practices.