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Indiana State Department of Health
The Indiana State Department of Health has confirmed that effective January 1, 2004, it accepts Medicare deemed status surveys of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) licensed by the state, if conducted by the AAAHC, JCAHO or AOA, in lieu of its own re-licensing surveys for the calendar year of that survey. The department will still conduct annual inspections deemed status surveys are not performed.

The change is implemented through an informal policy finding issued after a thorough review by the department, including analysis of materials submitted by the Accreditation Association and other accreditors. Although state regulations mandate yearly inspections of ASCs, they do not necessarily require the Department of Health to perform those inspections. The new policy is based on a previous finding relating to hospital inspections.

ASCs choosing to utilize a deemed status survey to satisfy the state inspection requirement are responsible for submitting their decision letters to the Department of Health. Such surveys may not be used in lieu of initial licensing inspections, which must be conducted by the department.

The Indiana ASC licensing regulations can be found at 410 Indiana Administrative Code, Article 15-2 http://www.state.in.us/legislative/iac/title410.html