SC S0170

Licensed hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities must adopt and implement policies requiring the use of smoke evacuation systems during any surgical procedure likely to generate surgical smoke

Smoke evacuation systems must effectively capture and filter surgical smoke before it contacts the eyes or respiratory tract of room occupants

Surgical smoke is defined as gaseous by-products from energy-generating devices like lasers and electrosurgical devices, including surgical plume, bio-aerosols, and laser-generated airborne contaminants

General effective date is July 1, 2026, with a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027 for critical access hospitals, hospitals with fewer than 50 acute care beds, sole community hospitals, Medicare dependent hospitals, and hospitals with six or fewer operating rooms