Can an Office Surgery Registration be Disciplined? How it works and what to expect.

If you are a Florida physician who owns a registered office surgery center or if you are a designated physician for an office surgery center, and you are facing discipline from the Florida Department of Health, you may be wondering how that discipline will affect your office surgery registration (OSR).  You may know that an individual medical license can be disciplined for violations of the Florida statutes and Board of Medicine regulations. Fewer physicians are aware that OSRs can be disciplined as well!

             If you are being investigated by the Department of Health, you may have received an Administrative Complaint. If the Department is seeking to discipline your OSR as well, you will receive a second Administrative Complaint with the same or similar allegations, but with a different case number. While a physician can be disciplined in a variety of ways, including fines, probation, continuing education courses, and a reprimand, an OSR can only be disciplined by suspension or revocation. This is outlined in Section 458.328(f), Florida Statutes, which states:

(f) The department may suspend or revoke the registration of an office in which a procedure or surgery identified in paragraph (a) is performed for failure of any of its physicians, owners, or operators to comply with this section and rules adopted hereunder or s. 459.0138 and rules adopted thereunder.

            A suspension means that the office surgery center must cease all surgical procedures for that duration of the suspension. The length of a suspension is not outlined in the statute. An experienced health care attorney will try to negotiate a shorter suspension period with the Department of Health.

Some enterprising physicians may try to circumvent the revocation of an OSR by applying for a new OSR number. However, this is not allowed under Section 458.328(f), which also states:

If an office’s registration is revoked for any reason, the department may deny any person named in the registration documents of the office, including the persons who own or operate the office, individually or as part of a group, from registering an office to perform procedures or office surgeries pursuant to this section or s. 459.0138 for 5 years after the revocation date.

The suspension or revocation of your office surgery registration can have severe and long-lasting consequences. You should always consult an attorney if you have questions regarding your OSR and potential discipline.