Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

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28 Pa. Code § 136.2. Definitions.

§ 136.2. Definitions.

 The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

   Board certified—A physician licensed to practice medicine in this Commonwealth who has successfully passed an examination and has maintained certification in the relevant medical specialty or subspecialty area, or both, recognized by one of the following groups:

     (i)   The American Board of Medical Specialties.

     (ii)   The American Osteopathic Association.

     (iii)   The foreign equivalent of either group listed in subparagraph (i) or (ii).

   CABG—Coronary artery bypass graft—A type of open heart procedure wherein a section of a blood vessel is taken from another part of the body to create an alternative path for blood to flow around a narrow or blocked portion of a coronary artery.

   Cardiac intensive care service—Service provided to an open heart surgery patient immediately after surgery. This service is provided in a specially equipped area in a facility wherein the highest level of medical care is available. This area shall be equipped to provide invasive monitoring, including arterial pressure, Swan-Ganz catheters and intra-aortic balloon pumps.

   Cardiac surgical service—Those personnel involved in the preparation, operation and postoperative care of patients receiving cardiac surgery.

   Onsite—In the physical structure at which open heart surgical services are being offered or in an adjoining structure.

   Open heart surgery—A surgical procedure to repair acquired or congenital diseases of the heart. The procedure shall do one of the following:

     (i)   Include the use of an extracorporeal pump oxygenator (heart lung machine) to perform the functions of the circulatory system during the surgery.

     (ii)   Employ minimally invasive procedures, which do not routinely involve the use of the extracorporeal pump oxygenator to perform the same types of surgical procedures, although its presence is required because, in a certain number of cases, this approach may have to be abandoned in favor of the other method.

   Open heart surgery program—A service established by a hospital to evaluate, operate on and provide postoperative care to individuals with cardiovascular illness who require surgical intervention. Adult open heart surgery programs may perform any open or closed heart surgery not defined as pediatric heart surgery.

   Operating room—The room wherein the open heart surgery is performed.

   Pediatric heart surgery—Includes both open heart and closed heart procedures for patients under 18 years of age except for those whose physical development, in the judgment of the patient’s physician, allows the patient to receive treatment safely and appropriately in hospitals which do not have a pediatric heart program.

   Preboard certification status—A physician licensed to practice medicine in this Commonwealth who has completed the requirements necessary to take a certification examination offered by a medical specialty board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Osteopathic Association or the foreign equivalent of either group, and who has been eligible to take the examination for no longer than 3 years.

   Surgical suite—That area of the hospital wherein the patient is brought for open heart surgery and which is dedicated to the preparation of the surgical team and the patient for open heart surgery and to the actual performance of that surgery.

   Twenty-four hours per day—Refers to the availability or onsite presence of specific personnel, support services or equipment on a 24-hour-per-day, 7-days-a-week basis.



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