CMS issues corrections to new fire safety requirements for hospital outpatient surgical departments

Editor's Note

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on June 30 published a correction to its recently updated fire safety requirements for hospitals.

The correction says that hospital outpatient surgical departments must meet Life Safety Code provisions "applicable to Ambulatory Health Care Occupancies, regardless of the number of patients served.”

The standards for Ambulatory Health Care Occupancies typically apply to facilities “capable of treating 4 or more patients simultaneously on an outpatient basis.”

The corrections are effective July 5, 2016.