Quality, Safety, and Compliance

The vice chair for Quality, Safety, and Compliance takes the lead role in all department efforts to promote, monitor and ensure safe, high-quality patient care. These efforts include:

• Case reviews
• Morbidity and mortality reports
• Risk management
• Data collection
• Reporting FPPE/OPPE
• Quality improvement endeavors

The vice chair leads the Critical Event Review Subcommittee and the Quality Improvement Committee. The vice chair also ensures engagement with all UNM Health Sciences quality efforts related to perioperative/anesthesia care.

In addition to the quality mission, the vice chair helps ensure that the department and all its clinical members follow compliance rules through education, monitoring and auditing for measures set forth by UNM Health Sciences, The Joint Commission, CMS, NM DOH, HIPAA and private payers.

Our Commitments

The University of New Mexico’s Department of Anesthesiology has a strong set of commitments in which we base our day-to day-operations. These are:

1. We always proceed with administrative clarity and high ethical values.
2. We commit to provide and keep careful, relevant and legible documentation.
3. Accurate billing and coding.
4. Our department does not accept gratuities, kickbacks, gifts, beyond those permitted by the law or through adequate institutional channels.
5. We do not participate in self-referral.
6. Activities such as unbundling, up-coding or submitting false claims are illegal and therefore not permitted.
7. We adhere to antitrust laws.
8. We maintain constant vigilance for updates in local, state and federal regulations affecting our practice.
9. We remain attentive of any abuse or transgressions of the laws and regulations dictating our practice.
10. We have in place a non-retaliation policy for those who observe any potential violation of the above commitments.
11. We constantly reassess our policies and procedures to maintain an up-to-date compliance program.
12. Our physicians and staff, in general, are well-informed and rigorously practice the above commitments.