In April, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission answered some questions from the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society about survey updates, rule changes and other helpful resources for ASCs.

As it pertains to surveys, HHSC is not authorized to do any virtual surveys at this time, and in-person visits are expected to meet the established expectations for infection control. All visits for surveys are addressed on a case-by-case basis. When it comes to the top survey citation since COVID, the staff expressed that surveyors have a special focus on infection control practices throughout all CMS-certified providers.

Since COVID, HHSC has implemented several emergency rule allowances, such as temporary suspension of state licensure requirements on bed capacity and more treatment options through telehealth. However, no permanent changes have been made, and some emergency rules are due to expire soon. While HHSC doesn’t anticipate any rule changes to infection control at this time, it encourages all their providers to sign up for GovDelivery to stay updated on the latest activities.

When asked about Texas adding a one-way flow provision, HHSC staff stated that the proposed rule that will be released soon for comment maintains the Facility Guidelines Institute one-way flow provision.

On the legislative side, HHSC cannot officially speak to any activity of this session but recommended looking at legal content updates through Texas Legislature Online.

While the state doesn’t offer any specific resources for licensing or compliance, HHSC said it is happy to answer any questions regarding specific facility licenses or CMS certifications.

ASCs are also welcome to reach out to any agency staff they have contact information for if they have any general questions, however, there is no information email box that is monitored. HHSC maintains facility-specific websites for each licensed provider, where all public resources can be found, and also suggested reaching out through [email protected] for more information.